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Education  Department 


THE   NEW   CIVICS 


THE  ASHLEY  BOOKS 

ON 

THE  NEW  SOCIAL  SCIENCE 

FOR 

SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


EARLY   EUROPEAN   CIVILIZATION    715  pages 

MODERN  EUROPEAN  CIVILIZATION 

710  pages 

AMERICAN  HISTORY     (Revised)    580  pages 
THE  NEW  CIVICS    420  pages 


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THE    NEW   CIVICS 

A  TEXTBOOK 

FOR 

SECONDARY    SCHOOLS 


BY 


ROSCOE   LEWIS   ASHLEY 

AUTHOR  OF 

"THE  AMERICAN   FEDERAL   STATE" 

"government   and   THE   CITIZEN" 

"AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT,"    ETC. 


Neto  gork 

THE  MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

1921 

All  rights  reserved   - 


^*fr::':- 


Copyright,  1917,  1921, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  April,  1917. 
Revised  January,  1921. 


16    t(^UoC6uZr?n    L 


NortoDoti  ^rega 

J.  S.  Gushing  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

This  book  deals  with  American  citizens  in  their  collective 
relations  to  one  another.  It  treats  also  a  few  important 
individual  relations  which  are  of  such  importance  socially 
that  they  are  really  public  in  character.  It  is  easy  to  see 
why  a  high  school  textbook  in  civics  should  place  emphasis, 
"first  upon  the  citizen  and  citizenship,  secondly,  upon  the 
"public"  as  an  organized  group  of  citizens,  and  thirdly,  on 
the  activities  of  the  governments  which  the  citizens  have 
created  and  through  whicli  the  public  cares  for  many  of  its 
collective  interests.  Practically  all  of  this  material  has  been 
tried  out  in  classes  by  the  author  and  others  and  has  been  / 
revised  to  meet  high  school  needs  as  perfectly  as  possible.  » 

This  book  is  really  an  introduction  to  the  study  of  the  new 
civics.     The  civics  which  is  studied  to-day  is  naturally  differ- 
ent from  that  of  a  generation  ago,  and  from  that  of  a  decade 
ago.    The  form  and  functions  of  many  American  governments 
have  changed  in  the  last  quarter  century ;  the  spirit  of  Ameri- 
can  government   has   changed   even   more.    The   greatest 
change  has  been,  not  in  the  government  itself,  but  in  the 
purpose  and  aim  of  high  school  courses  in  civics.     Once  we 
were  content  to  examine  constitutions.    Next,  we  added  an 
elaborate  study  of  the  organization  of  our  governments. 
Still  later,  we  emphasized  the  activities  of  government  as 
more  important  than  constitutions  and  governmental  ma^^ 
chinery.    Now,  we  stress  citizenship,  because  the  youthfuM 
citizen  should  know  how  society  is  organized  and  what  he   I 
should  do  for  society  as  well  as  what  it  does  for  him,  as  a  3 
citizen  and  a  member  of  that  society.  \ 

In  the  author's  opinion  the  new  civfS  is  and  should  be  the 
heart  of  the  new  high  school  course  in  the  social  sciences. 

Y 


VI  PREFACE 

The  field  of  this  new  civics  might  seem  at  first  glance  to 
lack  definite  boundaries.  The  more  one  studies  it,  however, 
the  more  one  is  impressed  with  the  simplicity  yet  complete- 
ness of  the  subject.  Naturally  public  organization  and 
activities  occupy  a  broader  field  than  governmental  organi- 
zation and  activities,  in  just  about  the  same  way  and  to  the 
same  degree  that  governmental  organization  and  activities 
(as  subjects  for  study)  are  bigger,  better,  and  more  valuable 
^han  formal  constitutions  and  governmental  machinery 
Naturally  also  one  would  not  think  of  presenting  to  fligh 
school  students  a  completely  analyzed  treatment  of  this 
subject  or  any  other.  That  would  be  too  formal ;  the  pupil 
should  study  it  from  his  ownpoint  of  view^as  an  individual 
citiLen.  '     ' 

The  study  of  civics  should  give  the  student  some  idea  of 
his  place  as  a  mejjLber  of  society  and  therefore  of  his  rights  J 
and  duiies  as  a  citizen.  It  should  train  his  judgment  and 
develop  his  ability  to  discuss  civi£^oblems,  yet  it  should 
emphasize  continually  the  important  fact  that  he  is  not 
solving  these  problems  but  is  simply  trying  to  weigh  argu- 
ments and  projg^sed  solutions.  Last  and  most  important 
of  all,  it  should  make  him  a  more  intelligent,  a  more  efficient, 
and  there^re  a  better  citizen. 

The  aumor's  thanks  are  due  to  many  teachers,  especially 
to  his  colleague.  Miss  Winnefred  Millspaugh,  who  has  made 
use  of  much  of  this  material  in  her  civics  classes,  to  Mr. 
Harold  N.  Greenwood,  Head  of  the  History  Department  of 
the  Jefferson  High  School,  Los  Angeles,  California,  and  to 
Miss  Margaret  S.  Carhart,  formerly  of  the  faculty  of  the 
University  of  Colorado. 

Pasadena,  Cal.,  January,  191 7. 


CONTENTS 

PART  I 
THE  CITIZEN  AND   SOCIETY 

CHAPTER  I 
CITIZENSHIP 

ECTION 

Some  Essentials  of  Citizenship 

1.  Definition  of  American  Citizenship 

2.  Individual  Needs  and  Civic  Relationships 

3.  Individual  Needs  and  Public  Needs 

4.  How  Political  Organizations  grow  out  of  Public  Needs 

5.  Other  Civic  Organizations  that  grow  out  of  Needs  . 

6.  Civic  Organizations  and  Civic  Relationships   . 


Some  Rights  of  American  Citizenship 

7.  One-sided  or  Two-sided  Relationships 8 

8.  Childhood  Rights  to  Life  and  Health 9 

9.  The  Rights  to  Favorable  Surroundings 10 

10.  Why  Rights  are  protected  by  Negative  Means        .         .         .11 

11.  Some  Rights  that  we  have  in  dealing  with  Other  Individuals  .  12 

12.  Rights  under  our  Governments 12 

13.  Rights  against  the  Governments 13 

14.  Summary  of  Rights 14 

15.  Individual  Liberty  and  Social  Progress 14 

Some  Civic  Obligations 

16.  The   Connection    between  Interests  and   both   Rights  and 

Obligations 15 

17.  Some  Primary  Civic  Duties 15 

18.  Some  Other  Public  Obligations 16 

19.  Duties  to  Other  Individuals     .         .         .         .         .         .         .  17 

20.  Social  Criminals 18 

vii 


•  •• 


vm  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE   CITIZEN 

section  page 

Home  and  Schooj. 

21.  Beginnings  of  Civic  Training  in  the  Home      .        .        .        .21 

22.  What  Kind  of  Education  does  a  Citizen  need ?        .        .        .22 

23.  Self-education  as  the  Only  True  Education     ....       23 

24.  Why  Public  Education  must  be  not  only  Free  but  Universal    .     24 

Preparation  for  Life  and  Citizenship 

25.  Training  in  Citizenship  in  the  School 25 

26.  Degrees  of  Self-government  in  Different  Schools      ...  26 

27.  The  Honor  System 27 

28.  The  Citizen  in  Business 28 

Foundations  and  Effects  of  Good  Citizenship 

29.  Character  as  the  Basis  of  Citizenship 30 

30.  Knowledge  and  Ability 31 

31.  Civic  Duty 32 

32.  Patriotism  and  Peace 33 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Geographical  Elements 

33.  Different  Conditions  in  the  Geographical  Areas  of  the  United 

States 37 

34.  Commercial  Areas 38 

35.  Industrial  Areas       .        . 38 

36.  Agricultural  Areas 39 

37.  Minerals  and  Water  Power      .        .        .        .        .        .        .41 

38.  Geography  and  the  Future  of  the  American  People         .        .      41 


The  People  of  the  United  States 
39.  Population,  Past  and  Present 


40.  Distribution  of  Population  Geographically 

41.  Distribution  of  Population  Industrially  . 

42.  Distribution  of  Population  by  Races 

43.  Original  Racial  Elements         . 

44.  Early  Nineteenth  Century  Immigration 

45.  Recent  Immigration        .... 


42 
43 
44 
44 
45 
47 
48 


CONTENTS  IX 

SECTION  PAGE 

Racial  Probixms 

46.  Economic  Effects  of  Immigration 49 

47.  Some  Social  Effects  of  Immigration 50 

48.  Restriction  of  Immigration 50 

49.  Immigration  and  Homogeneity 52 


CHAPTER    IV 
CIVIC  ORGANIZAIION 

Social  Organization 

50.  Rudimentary  and  Complex  Organizations       ....  56 

51.  Social  Development  through.  Individual  and  Collective  De- 

velopment           57 

52.  The  Character  of  Social  Organization 58 

53.  Forms  of  Association 58 

54.  Customs 59 

55.  Institutions 59 

56.  Limitations  in  the  Development  of  Institutions       ...  60 

57.  Limitations  to  the  Development  of  High  School  Institutions  61 

58.  Social  Control 62 

59.  Nationality  and  Democracy 63 


Political  Organization 

60.  The  State 

61.  The  Proper  Scope  of  Governmental  Duties 

^2.  The  Need  of  National,  State,  and  Local  Government 

63.  Our  National  and  State  Constitutions 

64.  Representative  Government  through  Political  Parties 

65.  The  Departments  of  Government 

66.  Our  Federal  System  of  Government 

67.  Characteristics  of  American  Government.     A  Summary 


63 
64 

65 
66 
67 
68 
69 
70 


Economic  Organization  and  Activities 

68.  Some  Fundamental  Economic  Processes          ....  70 

69.  Some  Characteristics  of  the  Economic  Order  To-day       .        .  71 

70.  Private  Property  and  Contract 72 

71.  Division  of  Labor  and  Large-scale  Industry             .        •        •  73 

72.  Cooperation  and  Markets        .        .        .        .        .        .        .74 

73.  Competition  and  Monopoly 74 

74.  Production  and  Distribution 75 

75.  Civic  Organization  and  the  Citizen 76 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  AMERICAN  HOME  AND  FAMILY 

SECTION  PAGE 

The  Importance  of  the  American  Home 

76.  The  Family  as  the  Sole  Social  Unit 79 

77.  Marriage  in  the  Past .         .80 

78.  Society  and  Marriage  Laws 81 

79.  The  Individual  American  and  Marriage  .        .        .        .81 

Permanence  of  the  Family 

80.  Divorce  in  the  Past .82 

81.  Changing  Conditions  which  lead  to  Divorce    ....  83 

82.  Divorce  in  the  United  States 84 

83.  Remedies  for  the  Divorce  Evil •  85 

The  Household  as  an  Economic  Unit 

84.  Economic  Position  of  the  Family 86 

85.  Size  of  American  Families 87 

86.  Family  Income        ; 88 

87.  Expenditure  of  Family  Income 88 

88.  Standards  of  Living 89 

89.  Financial  Problems  of  Industrial  Victims         ....  90 

90.  Women  and  the  Future  Home 92 


PART   II 
GOVERNMENT  AND  THE   CITIZEN 

CHAPTER  VI 
SUFFRAGE  AND  ELECTIONS 

91.  Popular  Cooperation  in  Government 97 

Nominations  for  Elective  Office 

92.  History  of  Nominations 98 

93.  Primary  Elections            . 99 

94.  Importance  of  the  Direct  Primary loi 

95.  A  National  Nominating  Convention 10 1 

96.  The  People  and  the  Parties  in  Nominations    ....  105 


CONTENTS  XI 

SECTION  PAGE 

Elections 

97.  Political  Campaigns 105 

98.  Holding  an  Election 106 

99.  The  Short  Ballot 107 

100.  Who  May  Vote      . 108 

loi.  Woman  Suffrage 109 

102.  Problems  of  Elections .     no 

103.  Efforts  made  to  guard  the  Purity  of  Elections       .        .        .111 

104.  Responsibility  and  Removal  of  Elected  Ofl&cials    .        .        .112 


CHAPTER  VII 
OTHER  MEANS  OF  POPULAR  CONTROL 

The  Work  of  the  Political  Parties 

105.  The  Importance  of  Party  Activities 115 

106.  The  Permanent  Party  Committees 116 

107.  The  Work  of  the  Party  Committees 116 

108.  The  Parties  and  Public  Office 117 

109.  Bosses  and  Rings 118 

no.  The  Voter  and  Political  Parties 119 

The  Appointment  of  Public  Officials 

111.  Appointments  and  Removals 120 

112.  The  Spoils  System 121 

113.  Development  of  Civil  Service  Reform 122 

114.  Civil  Service  at  Present  .         ,        .         ..        .        .122 

115.  The  Problem  of  Civil  Service,  Public  Control,  and  Good 

Government 123 

The  Initiative,  Referendum,  and  Recall 

116.  Direct  Legislation ;  the  Initiative 125 

117.  The  Referendum 126 

118.  Use  of  Direct  Legislation 127 

119.  Advantages  of  Direct  Legislation 128 

120.  Defects  of  Direct  Legislation 128 

121.  The  Recall 129 

CHAPTER  VIII 
CIVIL  LIBERTY  AND   PUBLIC  WELFARE 

122.  Individual  Rights  and  Social  Progress  .        .        .        .133 


XU  CONTENTS 

SECTION  PAGE 

Our  American  Bills  of  Rights 

123.  Constitutional  Protection  through  Bills  of  Rights          .        .  134 

124.  Freedom  of  Speech,  Press,  and  Petition         ....  135 

125.  Freedom  of  Thought      ........  136 

126.  Constitutional  Rights  of  a  Person  Accused  of  Crime     .        .137 

Safeguarding  of  Modern  Social  Rights 

127.  Freedom  of  Action 138 

128.  Rights  of  Workers  and  of  Women 139 

129.  Safeguarding  of  Savings  and  Homesteads      ....  140 

130.  Protection  of  Health  and  Life        ......  141 

131.  The  New  Social  Constitution 142 

Administration  of  Justice 

132.  Our  System  of  Courts 143 

133.  Use  of  the  Jury  System 144 

134.  Advantages  of  Jury  Trial 145 

135.  Disadvantages  of  Jury  Trial 145 

136.  Failures  in  the  Administration  of  American  Justice       .        .  146 

137.  The  Necessity  for  an  Upright  Judiciary  iii  a  Republic  .        .  147 

Punishment  of  Offenders 

138.  Enforcement  of  Law 14S 

139.  Punishment  of  Adult  Criminals 149 

140.  Prison  Reform 150 

141.  Reform  Schools 151 

142.  Juvenile  Courts 152 

CHAPTER  IX 
PUBLIC  FINANCE 

General  Considerations 


143.  The  Financial  Needs  of  Our  Governments     . 

144.  Private  Property  as  a  Social  Institution 

145.  Protection  and  Taxation  of  Private  Property 

146.  Taking  Private  Property  for  Public  Use 

147.  Characteristics  of  a  Good  Tax 


157 
159 
160 
161 
162 


National  Taxes 

148.  Financial  Powers  of  Congress  under  the  Constitution    .        .163 

149.  Duties  on  Imported  Goods 163 

150.  Internal  Revenue .        .        .        .     164 


:fer 


CONTENTS  xiii 

SECTION  PAGE 

151.  Income  Taxes 165 

152.  Miscellaneous  National  Taxes 166 

153.  The  Management  of  National  Finances         .        .        .        .167 

State  and  Local  Taxation 

154.  The  General  Property  Tax 168 

155.  Corporation  Taxes 169 

156.  Inheritance  Taxes 170 

157.  Other  Forms  of  State  and  Local  Revenue      .        .        .        .170 


CHAPTER  X 

CITY  GOVERNMENT 

158.  The  Remarkable  Growth  of  Our  Cities  .        .        .        .174 

Organization 


159.  The  Municipal  Charter  .        .        .        , 

160.  Three  Types  of  City  Government  at  Present 

161.  The  City  Council 

162.  The  Mayor 

163.  Commission  Government 

164.  Merits  of  Commission  Government 

165.  The  City  Manager 


175 
176 
176 
177 
178 
179 
179 


General  Problems  of  City  Government 

166.  The  Problem  of  Functions 180 

167.  Administrative  Departments 181 

168.  Municipal  Elections .        .182 

169.  Municipal  Finances 183 

Welfare  Problems 

170.  The  Housing  Problem 184 

171.  Fire  Protection .        .  186 

172.  City  Planning        . 186 

173.  City  Parks 188 

174.  Municipal  Playgrounds 189 

175.  Failures  of  American  Cities 190 

176.  Municipal  Reform 191 

Municipal  Public  Utilities 

177.  The  Problem 191 

178.  Conditions  Affecting  the  Problem 192 

179.  The  Question  of  Franchises 193 


Xiv  CONTENTS 

SECTION  PAGB 

i8o.  The  Water  Supply 194 

181.  Gas  and  Electricity 195 

182.  Transportation  Facilities        .        .        .        .        .        .        .195 

183.  Telephone  Service 197 

184.  Municipal  Ownership  vs.  Private  Ownership          .        .        .  197 

CHAPTER  XI 

STATE  AND   COUNTY  GOVERNMENT 

County  and  Town  Government 

185.  Local  Government  in  the  United  States         ....  203 

186.  Counties  and  County  Boards 204 

187.  Other  County  Officials '      .        .  205 

188.  The  American  Township 206 

189.  Work  of  Rural  Local  Government 207 

The  State  Legislature 

190.  Importance  of  the  Legislature 208 

191.  Organization  of  the  State  Legislature 209 

192.  The  Process  of  Lawmaking 209 

193.  Limitations  on  the  Legislature 210 

194.  Observations  on  the  State  Legislature 210 

State  Administration  and  Courts 

195.  The  State  Governor 211 

196.  Powers  of  the  Governor  .        .  .        .        .        .213 

197.  Organization  of  the  State  Administration      .        .        .        .214 

198.  The  State  Courts 215 


Fundamental  Laws  and  Sphere  of  Activity 
199.   Sphere  of  State  Action 


200.  Classes  of  Duties  performed  by  the  States     . 

201.  Uniformity  and  Diversity  in  State  Legislation 

202.  Character  of  a  State  Constitution 

203.  Adoption  and  Amendment  of  a  State  Constitution 

204.  Contents  of  Our  State  Constitutions 


216 
217 
218 
219 
220 
221 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE  NATIONAL  CONSTITUTION 

Historical  Development 

205.  Early  American  Unions  .        .        .        .        .        .        .224 

206.  The  Confederation         .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .225 


CONTENTS  XV 

SECTIOK  PAGE 

207.  The  Constitutional  Convention 226 

208.  Work  of  the  Convention 227 

209.  Adoption  of  the  Constitution 228 

The  Constitutional  Amendments 

210.  Need  of  Amendment 229 

211.  The  National  Bill  of  Rights 229 

212.  The  War  Amendments 230 

213.  Recent  Amendments 231 

The  Written  and  Unwritten  Constitutions 

214.  What  the  Unwritten  Constitution  is  Like      ....  232 

215.  Powers  of  Congress        ........  233 

216.  The  Presidency 234 

217.  The  National  Courts 235 

The  Nation  and  the  States 

218.  Classes  of  Governmental  Powers 236 

219.  Interdependence  of  the  National  and  State  Governments      .  236 

220.  Relation  of  the  State  and  National  Constitutions  .        .237 

221.  Unity  of  Our  Federal  System 237 

CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

Congress 

222.  The  American  Congress 241 

223.  Sessions  and  Organization  of  Congress           ....  242 

224.  Special  Characteristics  of  the  Senate 243 

225.  Special  Characteristics  of  the  House  of  Representatives         .  244 

226.  The  Committee  System 245 

227.  A  Bill  in  the  First  House 246 

228.  Later  Stages  of  Lawmaking            .        .        .        .        .        .  248 

The  President 

229.  The  President's  Position 249 

230.  Election  of  the  President 250 

£31.   Presidential  Term  and  Succession 251 

232.  General  Powers  of  the  President 252 

233.  The  Power  of  Appointment 254 

The  Executive  Departments 

234.  The  President's  Cabinet 255 

235.  The  Heads  of  the  Executive  Departments      ....  256 


XVI  CONTENTS 

SECTION  PAGB 

236.  The  Original  Departments 257 

237.  Departments  Added  during  the  Early  Years  of  the  Republic  258 

238.  Recently  Organized  Departments 259 

The  National  Judiciary 

239.  The  Work  of  the  Judicial  Department           ....  260 

240.  National  Courts  :  Judges  and  Jurisdiction     .        .        .        .261 

241.  The  Separate  Courts 26* 


PART   III 
SOME  PUBLIC  ACTIVITIES 

CHAPTER  XIV 
PUBLIC  HEALTH  AND  WELFARE 

Education 

242.  The  Public  Schools  and  Our  Republic    .        .        .        .        .  269 

243.  The  State  System  of  Education 270 

244.  State  Colleges  and  Universities 270 

245.  Grammar  and  High  Schools 272 

246.  School  Finances 273 

247.  Wider  Uses  of  the  School  Plant 274 

248.  Public  Libraries     . 275 

Public  Charities 

249.  Causes  of  Poverty .        .  277 

250.  The  Problem  of  Charity 278 

251.  Care  of  Dependent  Children 279 

252.  Care  of  the  Insane 280 

253.  Indoor  and  Outdoor  Relief    .        .        .        .        •        •        .281 

254.  Other  Forms  of  Charity         . 282 

Health  and  General  Welfare 

255.  Conservation  of  Human  Life 283 

256.  General  Health  Regulations 284 

257.  Disposal  of  Waste 284 

258.  Pure  Milk  and  Meats 285 

259.  Pure  Food  Laws 286 

260.  Control  of  the  Liquor  Business 286 


CONTENTS  rvii 


CHAPTER  XV 
LABOR  AND   INDUSTRY 

SECTION  PAGE 

261.  The  Laborer,  His  Labor,  and  His  Wage         .        .        .        .  291 

Woman  and  Child  Labor 

262.  Extent' and  Effects  of  Child  Labor 293 

263.  Public  Regulation  of  Child  Labor          .        .        .        .        .  294 

264.  Women  as  Wage  Earners 295 

265.  Conditions  and  Hours  of  Woman's  Labor      ....  296 

266.  Minimum  Wage  Regulations 297 

Employer,  Employee,  and  the  Public 

267.  Industrial  Accidents 298 

268.  Employer's  Liability 298 

269.  Workmen's  Compensation .  299 

270.  The  Problem  of  Unemployment 300 

271.  Some  Aspects  of  Industrial  Warfare 302 

272.  Conciliation  and  Arbitration          .        .        .        .        .        .  303 

The  Promotion  of  Industry 

273.  Government  in  Its  Relation  to  Business        ....  305 

274.  Protection  and  Organization  of  Industry       ....  306 

275.  Successive  Forms  of  Business  Combination   ....  307 

276.  Advantages  and  Evils  of  Combination 308 

The  Control  of  Industry 

277.  The  Problem  of  Corporation  Control 309 

278.  State  Anti-trust  Laws 310 

279.  The  Sherman  Anti- trust  Law  of  1890 311 

280.  Recent  Application  of  the  Sherman  Anti- trust  Act        .        .  312 

281.  The  Clayton  Act   .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .313 

282.  The  Federal  Trade  Commission     ......  313 


CHAPTER  XVI 
COMMERCE 

The  Government  and  Commercial  Development 

283.  History  of  Means  of  Communication  in  America  .        .        .318 

284.  Public  Highways 319 

285.  Governmental  Aid  to  Inland  Commerce        .        *        .        .321 


XVlU  CONTENTS 

SECTION  PAGB 

286.  Consolidation  of  Railways 321 

287.  Railway  Problems  and  the  Public 322 

Control  of  Railways 

288.  State  Control  of  Railways 324 

289.  The  First  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  .        .        .325 

290.  The  Present  Interstate  Commerce  Commission      .        ,        .  326 

291.  Relation  of  Interstate  Commerce  to  State  and  Foreign  Trade  327 

Foreign  Commerce 

292.  The  Government  and  Foreign  Commerce      ....  328 

293.  The  Promotion  of  Our  Foreign  Commerce     ....  329 

294.  Protection  of  American  Shipping 330 

295.  The  Consular  Service 331 

296.  Our  American  Tariffs 332 

CHAPTER  XVII 
OTHER  BUSINESS  ACTIVITIES 

297.  Interrelation  of  Modern  Government  and  Business       .        .  336 

Money  and  Banking 

298.  Money  Standards 336 

299.  History  of  the  American  Coinage 338 

300.  Our  National  Banking  System 339 

301.  The  Federal  Reserve  System          .        .        .        .    •    .        .  340 

302.  Wages  and  Prices 342 

Miscellaneous  Activities 

303.  The  Post  Office 344 

304.  Newer  Postal  Work 345 

305.  Government  and  Agricultural  Development           .        .        .  346 

306.  Development  and  Improvement  of  Our  Food  Supply    .        .  348 

307.  Protection  against  Storms  and  Floods 349 

308.  Indian  Affairs 350 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
TERRITORIES  AND  PUBLIC  LANDS 

Government  of  Territories 

309.  The  National  Government  and  National  Territories      .        .  353 

310.  Congressional  Control  of  Colonies 354 

311.  Government  of  the  Philippines  and  Porto  Rico     .        .        -354 


CONTENTS  XIX 

SECTION                                                                                                            '  PAGE 

312.  Government  of  Organized  Territories     .        .        .        .        .355 

313.  The  Admission  of  New  States 356 

Our  Policy  Regarding  Agricultural  Lands 

314.  Public  Land  Policy  in  the  Past 357 

315.  Agricultural  and  Grazing  Lands 358 

316.  The  Irrigation  Law  of  1902 259 

317.  Significance  of  Agricultural  Land  Policy        ....  360 


Conservation 

318.  Our  Forest  Policy 

319.  Water  Conservation  and  Water  Power 

320.  Inland  Waterways  .        . 

321.  Coal  and  Other  Minerals 

322.  The  Past  and  the  Future 


361 
362 
363 
364 
365 


CHAPTER  XIX 
FOREIGN  RELATIONS 

Diplomatic  Relations  and  Problems 

323.  International  Relations  in  General 367 

324.  American  Influence  on  World  Peace 367 

325.  The  Monroe  Doctrine 368 

326.  The  Making  of  Treaties 370 

National  Defense 

327.  The  Need  of  Preparedness 371 

328.  The  Army 372 

329.  The  Militia 373 

330.  Naval  Defense 373 

331.  Coast  Defense 376 

332.  Pension  Legislation        .        . 376 

333.  The  Problem  of  Military  Preparedness  .        .        .        .377 

334.  Real  Preparedness  .        .        .        .        ,        .        .        .378 

APPENDIX 

A.  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States           ....  383 

B.  Area  and  Population  of  the  States         .        .        .        .        .  401 

C.  Summaries  on  Citizenship  and  Government           .        .        .  402 

D.  Civic  Problems 404 

Index ,        .  409 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

Horace  Mann  Building,  Pasadena  High  School       .        .       Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Main  Waiting  Room,  Ellis  Island,  New  York        ....         2 

Conditions  in  which  Some  Children  Live 11 

Practical  Work  in  the  High  School  of  Practical  Arts,  Boston,  Mass.  23 
Boys'  Court  in  the  George  Junior  Republic,  Freeville,  New  York  .       25 

A  Large  Water  Power  Plant 41 

Examining  the  Eyes  of  Immigrants 51 

The  Minnesota  State  Capitol 68 

The  New  Financial  Center  of  the  World 73 

Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States  ....      75 

A  MetropoHtan  Apartment  House 79 

Biennial  Convention,  General  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  .      92 

The  Capitol  at  Washington  from  the  Northeast  ....  96 
Republican  National  Convention  (1916),  Chicago  .        .        .     102 

The  Democratic  National  Convention  (1916),  St.  Louis  .  .  103 
Censorship  of  an  American  Magazine  in  Russia  .  .  .  •  i3S 
Entertaining  the  Inmates  of  Sing  Sing  Prison  .  .  .  .151 
The  Reformatory,  Anamosa,  Iowa  .         .         .         .         .         .152 

Custom  House,  Galveston,  Texas 164 

City  Hall,  San  Francisco,  California 177 

Congestion  in  Tenement  District,  Lower  New  York  .  .  .184 
A  Model  Tenement,  Lower  East  Side,  New  York  City  .        .        .185 

Proposed  Civic  Center,  Cleveland,  Ohio 187 

Revere  Beach  (Municipal)  Park  and  Bath  Houses,  Boston    .        .188 

A  School  Playground,  Chicago,  111. 189 

Municipal  Railway  Car,  Seattle 196 

A  Jitney  Bus 196 

Kiosks  on  Common,  Boston  (Municipal)  Subway  .        .        .     198 

New  Haven  County  Court  House,  New  Haven,  Conn.  .        .     204 

Executive  Office,  Pennsylvania  State  Capitol         .        .        .      212-213 

The  Sixteenth  Amendment 231 

House  of  Representatives  in  Session 245 

Form  of  a  Law 247 

Inauguration  of  President  Roosevelt  (1905)    .        <.        o        .        .     250 

xxi 


3011  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

The  White  House  and  the  Executive  Offices 251 

President  Wilson  Addressing  Congress  on  Submarine  Controversy  253 

President  Wilson's  Cabinet  (1916) 256 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  (191 7)     ....  261 

The  War  Resolution  that  Brought  us  into  the  Great  War       .         .  266 

The  Student  Building,  University  of  Indiana          ....  268 

Morgan  Hall,  University  of  Alabama 268 

Administration  Building,  University  of  Nebraska  ....  268 

Court  of  Normal  School,  Newark,  N.  J. 271 

Grover  Cleveland  High  School,  St.  Louis,  Mo 272 

Gramercy  Neighborhood  Association,  New  York  City    .         .         .274 

Public  Library,  Springfield,  Mass. 276 

Mailing  Room  of  the  Wisconsin  Traveling  Library         .         .         .277 

Scene  in  a  City  Dispensary     .         .         .         .         ,         .         .         .  282 

The  Eighteenth  Amendment 287 

Child  Labor  formerly  in  Use  in  a  Cotton  Mill         ....  294 

A  Huge  Modern  Industrial  Plant 306 

The  Federal  Trade  Commission 314 

A  Georgia  Highway 320 

Union  Station,  Washington,  D.  C. 322 

The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  (1916)         ....  326 

The  Mint  at  Philadelphia 337 

Rapid  Transportation  of  Letters  by  Pneumatic  Tube  System         .  345 

Oregon  Agricultural  College 347 

Corn  Experimental  Work 348 

The  Roosevelt  Dam 359 

Scene  at  the  Annapolis  Naval  Academy 374 

The  Battleship  Nevada 374 

Firing  a  Torpedo  from  a  Destroyer 375 

A  Coast  Defense  Battery         ,         .         ,         .         .         .         .        .  376 

Gathering  of  Veterans  for  Gettysburg  Reunion  (1913)    .        .        .  377 


CHARTS   AND   MAPS 

PAGE 

The  United  States  (colored  map) Opposite      ^y 

Proposed  Harbor  Improvement,  Jamaica  Bay         ....      38 

Important  Industrial  Centers 39 

Annual  Value  of  Farm  Crops,  1909 40 

Immigration  <   .       47 

Fofeign  White  Stock  by  Principal  Countries  of  Origin,  19 10  .      48 

Average  Annual  Number  of  Divorces  for  100,000  Population  .      84 

Woman  Suffrage  in  the  United  States no 

Initiative  and  Referendum 127 

Expenditures  by  Governments 157 

Main  Expenditures  (1913),  State  and  Local  Governments      .        .     158 
General  Sources  of  State  and  Local  Revenue  .         .        .        .168 

Use  of  Libraries  in  Southern  Wisconsin  .        .        .        .        .276 

Federal  Reserve  Districts .        .        .     341 

Wages  and  Prices 343 

Territorial  Growth  of  the  United  States  (colored  map)   Between  352-353 
National  Forests  of  the  Western  United  States      .        .        ,        .    362 


SUGGESTIONS   TO   TEACHERS 

The  arrangement  of  material  in  "The  New  Civics" 
makes  possible  the  use  of  the  book  for  supplementary  work 
in  connection  with  American  history,  or  for  a  short  course  in 
American  government,  or  for  a  thorough  course  in  civics. 

If  the  book  is  used  simply  for  supplementary  work  in  a 
course  in  American  history,  the  author  would  suggest  that, 
early  in  the  year,  the  pupils  read  Chapters  I,  II,  Sections  60- 
67,  Chapter  VI,  Sections  122-126,  and  Chapter  XI.  Chapters 
XII  and  XIII  may  be  read  in  connection  with  the  adoption 
of  the  Constitution.  Supplementary  readings  should  be 
given  in  "The  New  Civics"  as  frequently  as  possible  in  order 
that  the  pupils  shall  have  read  the  whole  book  before  the 
close  of  the  year.  By  the  use  of  the  Table  of  Contents  the 
students  can  then  locate  any  subject  which  should  be  sttidied 
in  connection  with  any  topic  in  history.  If  possible,  two 
weeks  should  be  saved  near  the  end  of  the  year  for  a  general 
survey  of  civics  and  a  review  of  material  which  has  been 
examined  carefully. 

Classes  which  have  but  a  short  time  for  civics  and  wish  to 
emphasize  government  should  devote  their  attention  first  to 
Chapters  I  and  II,  to  Sections  60-67,  ^-nd  to  Part  II.  Many 
topics  of  Part  II  will  of  necessity  be  studied  carefully.  All 
of  the  book  should  be  read  by  all  students.  As  far  as  possible 
the  topics  should  be  read  in  the  order  in  which  they  are  pre- 
sented. Students  in  these  classes  will  wish  to  make  use  of 
many  suggestions  given  below. 

In  order  to  understand  the  new  civics,  the  subject  should 
be  studied  in  its  entirety  and  should  really  be  studied.    The 

XXV 


XXVI  SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHERS 

author  has  found  that  the  student  best  equipped  for  a  study 
of  government  and  its  activities  is  one  who  understands  the 
nature  of  civic  relations  (Chapter  I),  geographical  and  racial 
conditions  in  America  (Chapter  III),  and  the  social  and 
economic  organization  of  to-day  (Chapter  IV),  as  well  as  the 
political  organization.  Great  interest  has  been  aroused,  not 
only  in  those  features  of  American  government  in  which  the 
voter  and  the  taxpayer  share  (Chapters  VI-IX),  but  in 
those  civic  interests  or  activities  (Chapters  II,  V)  in  which 
every  citizen  has  a  part.  Almost  as  much  interest  has  been 
shown  in  the  public  activities  considered  in  Part  III  of  this 
book.  One  or  two  topics  and  a  few  sections  in  other  topics 
are  rather  difl&cult.  At  least  they  should  be  read,  not 
omitted,  for  they  will  repay  study  more  than  any  others  in 
the  book. 

^As  suggested  in  the  Preface,  no  course  in  civics  can  be  satis- 
factory which  is  not  vital  to  the  student.  He  must  not  only 
investigate  the  actual  work  of  government  in  its  many 
practical  phases,  but  he  must  understand  what  rights  and 
obligations  he  has  as  a  citizen  toward  the  public  in  connec- 
tion with  any  civic  organization  or  activity.  For  this  inves- 
tigation many  of  the  "Questions"  at  the  ends  of  the  chap- 
ters can  probably  be  used  to  advantage.  Each  pupil  ought 
to  do  some  additional  outside  work  each  month,  in  order  to 
gain  skill  in  discriminating  between  important  and  unim- 
portant facts,  in  making  notes,  and  in  formulating  reports. 
With  this  end  in  view  the  references  under  the  head  of 
"Studies"  at  the  ends  of  the  chapters  have  been  selected 
carefully  from  books  and  magazines  that  are  easily  accessible. 
It  will  probably  be  possible,  also,  for  each  pupil  to  prepare  a 
more  formal  paper  or  give  an  extended  oral  report  upon  one 
of  the  "Topics." 

Much  can  be  done  in  the  classroom  in  studying  constitu- 
tions, charters,  sample  ballots,  and  newspaper  or  pamphlet 
reports  of  civic  activities.  These  can  be  obtained  practically 
without  expense.  If  possible,  each  school  should  gather  a 
library  of  this  material  for  permanent  reference  work.    Not 


SUGGESTIONS  TO  TEACHERS  xxvii 

only  should  there  be  numerous  copies  of  the  state  constitu- 
tion and  the  city  charter,  but  this  library  might  contain 
sample  ballots,  legislative  bills,  the  forms  used  for  tax  state- 
ments and  receipts,  reports  of  local  auditors,  and  reports  of 
state  or  city  commissioners  on  public  utilities,  railways,  or 
other  public  activities.  Interest  may  be  quickened  by  hold- 
ing a  legislative  session  at  which  bills  are  presented,  debated, 
and  brought  to  a  vote.  Trials  with  a  judge,  jury,  attorneys, 
and  witnesses  may  be  possible  by  a  little  extra  preparation 
and  help  from  outside  if  necessary. 

The  following  books  may  be  found  especially  helpful  in 
connection  with  this  text.  In  selecting  books  for  a  large 
library  it  is  well  to  have  numerous  duplicates  of  the  best 
books  as  well  as  a  large  number  of  titles. 

A  Small  Library 

Young,  The  New  American  Government  and  Its  Work 
One  of  the  three  following : 

Bryce,  American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  I,  or  abridged  edition 

Hart,  Actual  Government 

Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State,  revised  edition 
Beard,  American  City  Government 
One  of  the  following : 

Towne,  Social  Problems 

Carlton,  History  and  Problems  of  Organized  Labor 

A  Medium-sized  Library 

All  of  the  books  named  above  and  the  following : 
Kaye,  Readings  in  Civil  Government 
Beard,  Readings  in  American  Government  and  Politics 
Reinsch,  Readings  on  American  Federal  Government 
Cleveland,  Organized  Democracy 

Reinsch,  The  American  Legislature  and  Legislative  Methods 
Nearing,  Social  Adjustment 


XXVm  SUGGESTIONS   TO  TEACHERS 

Nearing,  Woman  and  Social  Progress 

Zueblin,  American  Municipal  Progress  (new  and  rev.  ed.) 

Blackmar  and  Gillen,  Outlines  of  Sociology 

Hayes,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Sociology 

Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation 

Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.),  Materials  for  the  Study  of 

Elementary  Economics 
Hamilton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems 
Ross,  The  Old  World  in  the  New 
Mangold,  Child  Problems 
Bliss  (ed.),  The  New  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform 


A  Large  School  Library 

All  of  the  books  listed  above  and  the  following : 
Woodburn,  Political  Parties  and  Their  Problems  (rev.  ed.) 
Munro  (ed.),  The  Initiative,  the  Referendum,  and  the  Recall 
Jones,  Readings  on  Parties  and  Elections 
Munro,  The  Government  of  American  Cities 
Howe,  The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems 
Baldwin,  The  American  Judiciary 

FairUe,  Local  Government  in  Towns,  Counties,  and  Villages 
Plehn,  Introduction  to  Public  Finance  (rev.  ed.) 
McLaughhn  and  Hart  (eds.),  Cyclopedia  of  American  Govern- 
ment 
Baldwin,  The  Relations  of  Education  to  Citizenship 
Brewer,  American  Citizenship 
Bryce,  The  Hindrances  to  Good  Citizenship 
Ellwood,  Sociology  in  Its  Psychological  Aspects 
Hart  (ed.).  Preventive  Treatment  of  Neglected  Children 
King  (ed.).  Regulation  of  Public  Utilities 
Stimson,  Popular  Law-Making 
Rubinow,  Social  Insurance 
Ripley,  Railroads:  Rates  and  Regulations 
Van  Hise,  Conservation  of  Natural  Resources 


PART   I 
THE   CITIZEN  AND    SOCIETY 


©  Underwood  and  UnderwooH.. 
Main  Waiting  Room,  Ellis  Island,  New  York. 


THE   NEW   CIVICS 

CHAPTER  I 

CITIZENSHIP 

Some  Essentials  of  Citizenship 

1.   Definition  of  American  Citizenship.  —  If  you  were  to  Citizenship 
ask  some  older  person  who  a  citizen  is,  it  is  possible  that  he  ^^  ^  y^' 
might  reply :  "  Why,  a  voter,  of  course."     Only  a  few  years  ^ 
ago  most  people  confused  these  two  essentially  different  terms, 
the  citizen  and  the  voter.     Whereas  a  voter  is  an  adult  who 
takes  part  in  the  government,  the  citizen  is  a  member  of  the 
nation}    As  the  voter  is  a  privileged  person,  only  a  small 
percentage  of  all  citizens  are  voters,  even  in  this  democratic 
country  of  ours.     The  citizen,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  regular 
member  of  the  large  society  which  we  call  the  United  States 
of  America.     Citizenship  is  therefore  social'^  rather  than 
political.     It  is  universal  rather  than  limited.     It  is  a  natural 
right,  not  a  conferred  privilege. 

In  this  great  society  or  nation  known  as  the  United  States  Acquisition 
citizenship  is  defined  in  the  national  Constitution.     Accord-  °^  citizenship 

■■■  by  birth  or 

ing  to  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  "  All  persons  born  or  naturaJiza- 
naturalized  in  the  United  States  and  subject  to  the  jurisdic-  ^i^^- 
tion  thereof  are  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the 
state   wherein   they   reside."     Since   citizenship   comes   to 

*  The  citizen  is  a  member  of  a  nation  or  sovereign  civic  society. 

'  The  term  social  is  used  in  two  senses,  a  narrower  sense,  in  which  it  includes 
a  study  of  classes,  and  of  the  relationship  of  individuals  or  groups  to  other  in- 
dividuals or  groups;  and  a  broader  sense,  in  which  it  includes  economic  and 
political  organizations  and  activities  as  well  as  those  which  are  social.  In  the 
above  statement  it  is  used  in  the  broader  sense. 

3 


-*  ^ 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


How  citizen- 
ship grows 
out  of  rela- 
tions ;   rela- 
tions out  of 
needs. 


every  one  born  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  irrespec- 
tive of  color  or  of  the  nationality  of  his  parents,  we  see  why 
citizenship  is  social,  is  universal,  and  is  natural.  Since  a 
foreigner  who  has  lived  in  the  United  States  five  years  ^  may 
acquire  citizenship  through  naturalization  we  can  under- 
stand that  no  bona  fide  resident  of  this  country,  foreign  as 
well  as  native,  worthy  of  membership  in  this  great  nation,  is 
debarred  from  citizenship. 

2.  Individual  Needs  and  Civic  Relationships.  —  The  Four- 
teenth Amendment  tells  who  are  citizens,  but  it  does  not  tell  us 
what  citizenship  is.  Citizenship  is  the  sum  total  of  those  rights 
and  duties  which  come  to  us  from  our  membership  in  this  Ameri- 
can nation.  As  we  shall  see  later,  these  rights  and  duties  grow 
out  of  our  relations  with  one  another.  Our  relationships  in 
turn  grow  out  of  our  needs,  because,  whenever  we  need  any- 
thing which  we  cannot  supply  for  ourselves,  we  depend  for 
it  upon  some  other  person  or  upon  some  other  group  of  per- 
sons. In  addition,  if  we  have  things  which  we  do  not  need, 
we  naturally  furnish  them  to  other  people  who  have  need 
of  such  commodities  or  services.  Consequently  our  needs 
or  the  needs  of  other  people  bring  us  into  relationship  with 
numerous  persons  in  the  home,  in  the  school,  and  in  business, 
people  who  are  dependent  on  us  or  upon  whom  we  depend. 
We  may  say,  therefore,  that  we  have  civic  relations  with  any 
of  these  people  with  whom  we  are  connected  socially  or  in 
the  business  world,  because  we  do  something  for  them  and 
they  do  something  for  us.^ 


1  In  order  that  aliens  in  this  country  may  become  really  identified  with  us 
in  their  interests,  opportunity  is  given  to  acquire  citizenship  within  a  period  of 
five  years.  At  any  time  an  alien  may  declare  his  intention  of  becoming  a  citizen. 
He  must  do  this  before  a  federal  court.  Not  less  than  two  years  nor  more  than 
seven  years  later,  if  he  has  resided  in  this  country  at  least  five  years  altogether, 
he  must  go  before  a  federal  court  or  state  court  of  record,  forswear  his  allegiance 
to  the  country  of  which  he  was  formerly  a  citizen  and  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of 
the  court  that  he  would  make  a  desirable  American  citizen.  Citizenship  papers 
are  then  issued  to  him.  When  a  married  man  is  naturalized,  his  wife  and  minor 
children  do  not  need  separate  naturalization  papers. 

2  Strange  as  it  may  seem,  villages,  cities,  and  sometimes  nations  have  been 
created  chiefly  for  the  pvupose  of  looking  after  the  individual  needs  of  large 
groups  of  people. 


needs. 


ESSENTIALS  OF   CITIZENSHIP  5 

3.  Individual  Needs  and  Public  Needs.  —  Needs  are  of  Nature  of 

two  kinds,  those  that  are  distinctively  personal  or  Individ-  individual 
ual  and  those  that  are  general  or  public.  Food,  clothing, 
shelter,  and  other  articles  which  satisfy  individual  needs  are 
either  provided  by  ourselves  or  are  supplied  for  us  by  some 
one  who  feels  responsible  for  us.  The  business  world  is 
organized  largely  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  the  goods  or 
services  which  satisfy  individual  needs,  and  each  of  us  can 
secure  them  for  himself  if  he,  or  the  person  upon  whom  he 
is  dependent,  has  sufi&cient  wealth  for  that  purpose. 

We  need,  however,  many  other  things  not  less  important  Character  of 
but  different,  which  each  of  us  cannot  buy  for  himself.     We  P^^p^ 

needs 

need  highways  (roads  or  streets)  on  which  to  go  from  our 
homes  to  school  or  to  our  places  of  business.  We  need  fire 
protection  for  our  houses,  and  police  protection  for  ourselves 
and  our  property.  We  need  rules  or  laws  which  shall  define 
our  relations  to  those  with  whom  we  associate  or  do  business, 
so  that  we  shall  know  what  rights  and  obHgations  we  have 
with  one  another.  These  are  public  needs,  which  must  be 
satisfied  by  groups,  each  of  which  acts  as  one  person,  since 
each  individual  in  any  group  cannot  do  these  things  for  him- 
self. 

4.  How  Political  Organizations  grow  out  of  Public  Needs.    Need  of  per- 
—  Naturally  the  groups  which  we  have  mentioned  should  manently 
be  permanently  organized  because  they  must  continue  to  do  govermnenta 
work  for  the  public.     New  streets  and  roads  must  be  opened ; 

old  highways  must  be  kept  in  repair.  Fire  and  pohce  pro- 
tection must  be  given  day  and  night,  year  after  year.  It  is 
necessary  to  make  new  rules  or  laws  as  conditions  change, 
and  there  must  be  some  one  to  enforce  and  interpret  law  as 
the  need  arises. 

These  public  groups  which  look  after  general  public  needs  Different 
are  either  local,  as  cities,  towns,  and  counties,  or  state,  or  governments 
national.     Each  group  has  its  organization  of  officials,  small 
and  simple  if  pubHc  needs  are  few,  or  large  and  complex  if 
needs  are  numerous  as  in  a  city  such  as  greater  New  York, 
or  in  the  national  government.     These  sets  of  officials  repre- 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Need  of  or- 
ganization, 
powers,    and 
authority  for 
each    gov- 
ernment. 


Economic 
interests  pro- 
tected by  our 
govern- 
ments. 


Importance 
of  our    eco- 
nomic organ- 
ization to 
most 
citizens. 


sent  the  political  organizations  or  governments  of  their  respec- 
tive groups.  We  speak  of  the  machinery  and  activities  of 
these  poHtical  organizations  as  government. 

Each  government  is  made  up  of  sets  of  officials.  Some  of 
these  officials  make  laws,  some  enforce  laws,  and  some  inter- 
pret laws.  These  officials  constitute  the  machinery  of  gov- 
ernment. The  work  or  the  powers  of  these  officials  or  any 
of  them  constitute  the  activities  of  government.  Since  these 
governments  represent  us  and  must  satisfy  our  public  needs, 
they  must  possess  authority  in  order  to  accomplish  their 
work. 

This  work  of  our  .government  does  not  consist  solely  of 
activities  which  we  call  political.  To  be  sure  there  must  be 
laws  or  rules  which  specify  not  only  who  may  vote  and  what 
powers  the  government  shall  have,  but  in  addition  laws  must 
be  made  and  enforced  in  regard  to  private  property  and  con- 
tracts. If  we  own  property,  and  some  one  else  seizes  that 
property,  or,  if  we  make  a  contract  with  some  one  else  and  he 
fails  to  keep  his  agreement  although  we  carry  out  our  part  of 
the  contract,  then  some  organization,  clothed  with  authority, 
must  protect  our  economic  rights  in  our  property  and  our 
contract.     The  government  does  this. 

6.  Other  Civic  Organizations  that  grow  out  of  Needs.  — 
Since  our  economic  interests  are  exceedingly  numerous  and 
important  —  because  after  all  the  task  of  making  a  hving 
is  far  more  important  than  the  work  of  governing  and  being 
governed  —  we  require  and  we  have  an  economic  organization  ^ 
which  is  far  larger  and  more  complex  than  any  of  our  govern- 
ments. We  can  understand  this  need  if  we  realize,  that  only 
about  one  per  cent  of  all  the  people  in  the  United  States  are  regu- 
larly and  ac/^t;e/y  engaged  in  the  work  of  governing  this  country, 
whereas  more  than  half  of  the  American  people  are  actually 
employed  in  the  work  of  producing  wealth,  on  farms  or  in 
factories,  on  railways  or  in  stores.  All  people,  of  course,  have 
a  passive  share  in  the  work  of  both  the  political  and  economic 
organizations,  but  it  is  certainly  quite  as  important  to  be 

^  For  a  fuller  account  of  Economic  Organization,  see  below,  Chapter  IV. 


ESSENTIALS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  7 

fed  and  clothed  and  sheltered  as  it  is  to  live  under  good  laws 
and  a  wise  government. 

That  these  organizations  supplement  or  help  one  another  interrelation 
cannot  be  doubted.     Unless  the  government  gives  us  good  ^^  political 

,  I'v  'ij'-^j  1       •  S  and  economic 

laws  which  are  wisely  administered,  our  business  suffers,  organiza- 
On  the  contrary,  unless  business  prospers  and  wealth  is  pro-  tions. 
duced  in  large  quantities,  our  governments  fail  because  of 
lack  of  proper  financial  support  or  because  their  resources 
are  insufficient  in  some  great  crisis.  Thus  economic  organi- 
zation and  political  organization  are  necessary  to  each  other, 
both  being  interdependent  forms  of  civic  organization. 

Still  another  civic  organization  do  we  have  because  we  have  Place  of 
still  other  needs,  individual  and  public.     In  infancy  and  in  ^^"^^  ^f'    . 
youth  we  are  not  much  interested  in  government  or  in  busi-  present 
ness,  but  we  are  greatly  concerned  with  our  homes  and  with  American 
our  schools.     The  family  group,  the  most  important  single  ganTzation. 
group  in  the  civihzed  world  to-day,  is  neither  economic  nor 
pohtical;    it  is  social.     To  be  sure  it  must  do  its  share  in 
producing  wealth,  it  does  its  share  in  consuming  commodities, 
and  it  is  regulated  to  some  extent  by  our  governments, 
through,  for  example,  marriage  and  divorce  laws,  or  through 
laws  defining  the  obligations  of  parents  and  the  rights  of 
children.     Primarily,  however,  it  is  a  social  group,  for  civil- 
ized society  is  organized  in  famihes.     Therefore  we  have  a 
third  civic  organization,  closely  related  to  the  other  two,  a 
social  organization.^ 

6.   Civic  Organizations  and  Civic  Relationships.  —  Each  Relation  of 
one  of  us,  and  every  other  citizen  in  the  United  States  of  ^^^   individ- 
America,  is  connected  directly  or  indirectly  with  not  one  but  to  economic 
many  civic  organizations,  social,  economic,  and  political,  groups. 
We  are  members  of  families  and  of  communities  and  of  the 
nation.     We  may  not  be  engaged  in  producing  wealth  and 
therefore  may  not  be  connected  with  employers,  that  is,  have 
direct  relations  with  them,  yet  some  one  who  furnishes  us  with 
everyday  necessities  must  be  an  employee  unless  he  is  an 
independent  worker  or  an  employer.     Although  we  may  not 

1  For  a  fuller  account  of  Social  Organization,  see  below,  Chapter  IV. 


8 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Relations  of 
the  individ- 
ual with  the 
government. 


Direct  and 
indirect  rela- 
tionships 
with  individ- 
uals or  with 
groups. 


seem  to  be  engaged  in  buying  from  or  selling  to  others,  never- 
theless we  must  eat  or  starve,  we  must  be  clothed  and 
sheltered,  and  so  we  are  directly  dependent  on  that  person, 
employer  or  employee,  who  provides  us  with  these  necessaries 
and  comforts.  We  therefore  are  dependent  indirectly  on 
those  persons  who  have  produced  them. 

We  may  not  vote,  but  we  share  in  the  benefits  of  a  govern- 
ment which  protects  us  and  gives  us  schools,  Hbraries,  parks, 
and  other  civic  advantages.  For  example,  we  have  direct 
relations  with  the  government  if  the  postman  brings  us  letters 
or  the  teacher  helps  us  gain  an  education,  and  we  have 
indirect  relations  every  day  and  all  the  time  with  other  officials 
of  our  governments,  such  as  policemen  who  keep  order. 

Our  civic  relationships  are  therefore  (i)  direct  or  indirect. 
They  are  direct  if  we  deal  face  to  face  with  other  individuals 
or  with  groups.  They  are  indirect  if  we  never  meet  the 
individual  or  the  organization  with  whom  we  are  dealing. 
(2)  They  may  be  with  one  member  of  a  group  to  which  we 
belong,  as  our  fathers  or  schoolmates,  or  with  some  person 
in  another  group,  for  example,  the  miller  who  ground  the 
wheat  which  we  used  in  bread.  (3)  They  may  be  with  whole 
groups  of  which  we  are  members,  for  instance,  the  family  and 
the  school,  or  with  groups  of  which  we  are  not  members,  as 
the  workers  in  some  factory  or  department  store  whose 
goods  we  use.  (4)  These  relationships  are  likely  to  be  of 
different  kinds,  as  social^  economic,  and  political.  They  are 
therefore  exceedingly  numerous,  because  our  civic  organiza- 
tions are  very  large  and  complex.  (5)  Finally,  and  this  is  a 
point  for  us  to  consider  with  the  greatest  care,  the  relation- 
ships are  there  whether  we  will  them  to  be  or  not.       ' 


Some  Rights  of  American  Citizenship 


Why     some 
relationships 
are   rather 
one-sided. 


7.  One-sided  or  Two-sided  Relationships.  —  So  numerous 
are  these  civic  relationships  of  every  American  citizen  that 
his  rights  are  almost  infinite  in  number.  At  this  point  we 
can  consider  only  a  few  of  them.     We  must  notice,  however, 


RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 


are  two- 


that  they  are  of  two  kinds,  one-sided  or  two-sided,  (i)  Some 
relationships  are  rather  one-sided,  of  course.  A  mother  does 
many  things  for  her  young  son  or  daughter,  expecting  and 
receiving  comparatively  httle  in  return.  In  relation  to  her 
children  her  rights  are  far  less  numerous  than  her  duties. 
For  that  very  reason  the  very  small  child,  in  dealing  with 
either  of  his  parents,  has  many  more  rights  than  obligations. 
This  example  shows  us,  however,  that,  if  one  or  two  persons 
who  have  dealings  with  each  other  has  an  unusually  large 
number  of  rights,  the  other  has  a  correspondingly  large  num- 
ber of  duties. 

(2)  Most  relationships  existing  between  one  person  and  Why  most 
another  or  between  one  person  and  a  group  are  not,  and  relationships 
cannot  be,  one-sided.  For  example,  the  right  of  the  student  sided 
to  good  teaching  not  only  means  that  the  teacher  should 
teach  the  subject  well,  but  that  the  student  should  do  his 
share,  that  is,  perform  his  duty  by  studying  his  lesson.  Again, 
although  we  must  have  food,  no  grocer  is  obliged  to  sell  us  the 
food  which  we  prefer  for  such  a  sum  as  we  are  willing  to  give. 
He  gives  value  for  value.  So,  in  most  relationships,  we  can 
enjoy  rights  if  we  accept  the  obligations  which  go  with  those 
rights,  since  almost  every  relationship,  being  two-sided, 
creates  something  which  we  may  call  a  right  and  demands 
in  return  something  else  which  we  call  a  duty  or  obligation. 
Every  right  and  practically  every  privilege,  therefore,  has  a 
corresponding  obligation,  and  good  citizenship  requires  that 
we  meet  those  obligations. 

8.  Childhood  Rights  to  Life  and  Health.  —  As  suggested 
above,  for  the  boy  or  girl  citizenship  deals  more  with  rights 
than  with  duties ;  for  the  older  citizen  it  is  concerned  chiefly 
with  obligations.  The  reason  is  this :  the  needs  of  the  child 
are  great  in  proportion  to  his  ability  to  help  others.  In 
childhood  and  even  in  youth  he  is  dependent  on  those  with 
whom  he  is  associated.  As  he  grows  to  maturity,  however, 
he  learns  first  to  supply  most  of  his  own  needs  and  later  to 
care  for  those  of  others  in  addition.  To  be  sure,  his  own 
needs  may  be  greater  as  a  man  than  they  were  as  a  boy,  b 


Why  the 
child  has  rel- 
atively more 
rights,     the 
adult    rela- 
tively more 
obligations. 


■\ 


lO 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Civic  impor- 
tance of  good 
heredity  and 
good   health. 


Protection 
of   the   little 
child  by  the 
home,     com- 
munity, 
state,    and 
nation. 


his  abilities  and  his  opportunities  have  developed  far  more 
rapidly  than  his  needs.  Although  the  masculine  pronoun  is 
used  almost  exclusively  here  and  later  in  this  book,  the  state- 
ments include  girls  as  well  as  boys,  women  as  well  as  men. 

To  a  large  extent  the  rights  of  the  child  are  the  rights 
which  he  has  in  the  home.  When  he  is  born,  he  becomes  not 
simply  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  but,  what  is  more 
directly  valuable  to  him  during  his  early  years,  a  member  of  a 
home.  He  is  entitled  to  a  good  start  in  life.  Two  of  the 
first  and  greatest  rights  of  childhood  are  the  rights  to  a  fair 
degree  of  health  and  to  a  place  in  a  real  home.  The  child 
who  lacks  either  of  these  is  deprived  of  a  large  part  of  his 
heritage  as  an  American  citizen.  If  he  comes  into  the  world 
weak,  imperfectly  developed,  with  constitutional  tendencies 
to  disease,  he  is  not  only  handicapped  in  his  personal  fight 
with  life,  but  he  is  denied  the  opportunity  of  giving  to  others 
the  help  and  support  which  a  normally  healthy  child,  youth, 
or  adult  should  offer.  Usually  good  health  is  an  important 
element  of  good  citizenship. 

9.  The  Rights  to  Favorable  Surroundings.  —  Whatever 
may  be  his  physical  and  mental  heritage,  the  little  child  has 
a  right  to  clean,  healthy,  favorable  surroundings.  The  home^ 
the  community,  and  the  nation  must  each  do  its  share  in 
guarding  these  rights  of  childhood.  Lack  of  cleanliness  and 
tidiness  may  be  due  to  the  negligence  of  the  home-maker; 
but  unsanitary  surroundings,  sunless  tenements,  and  filthy 
alleys  are  failures  of  the  community  rather  than  of  the 
family.  The  excessive  mortality  among  infants  in  the  slums 
is  caused  chiefly  by  overcrowding,  poor  milk,  and  scarcity 
of  fresh  air  —  failures  of  the  city  to  protect  its  children ;  for, 
after  all,  the  ignorance  and  carelessness  of  mothers  is  a  minor 
cause.  Much  has  been  done  in  our  cities  to  give  the  babies 
of  the  slums  a  "  fighting  chance,"  but  society  owes  them  even 
more  careful  guardianship  in  order  that  they  may  have  health 
as  well  as  life. 

In  later  years  the  home,  the  community,  and  the  nation 
must  furnish  surroundings  which  make  it  possible  for  the 


RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 


II 


child  to  be  a  healthy,  honest,  and  intelligent  citizen.     Not 

only  must  the  home  be  clean  and  cheerful ;  it  should  be  a  real 

home  in  which  the  members  of  the  family  live  in  harmony  and 

give  the  child  and  youth  proper  training  and  discipline.     The 

community  has  not  done  enough  if  only  good  schools  are 

•provided  •  it  must  furnish  a  decent  moral  atmosphere.     The 

state   and  nation  must 

see  that  good  laws  and  a 

public   sentiment  which 

demands     fair     deahng 

not  only  give  the  youth 

every   chance    to    learn 

right  and  avoid  wrong, 

but  that  they  furnish  an 

opportunity  to  grow  to 

manhood  or  womanhood 

with  high  ideals,  honest 

standards    of    conduct, 

and  a  mind  not  warped 

by  prejudice  and  hate. 

10.  Why  Rights  are 
protected  by  Negative 
Means.  —  These  rights 
which  we  have  been  con- 
sidering are  not  safe- 
guarded so  much  by  law  as  they  are  by  a  true  sense  of  civic 
obligation  on  the  part  of  parents  or  the  public.  Since  we 
are  often  deahng,  however,  with  individuals  who,  unhke  our 
parents,  may  wish  the  best  of  the  bargain,  our  rights  are 
defined  in  the  law  and  are  protected  by  our  governments. 
It  is  natural  that  these  legal  regulations  concerning  rights 
and  duties  should  be  negative  rather  than  positive ;  that  is, 
they  should  deal  chiefly  with  prohibitions.  The  law  cannot 
compel  people  to  be  honest,  but  it  can  punish  them  for 
stealing.  It  does  not  force  the  baker  to  bake  good  bread, 
but  he  is  not  allowed  to  sell  loaves  which  are  below  a  cer- 
tain weight.    It  does  not  force  a  voter  to  go  to  the  polls, 


Conditions  in  which  Some  Children  Live. 


Need  of 
agreeable  and 
moral  condi- 
tions which 
favor    real 
development 
of  the 
citizen. 


Guarding   of 
rights    de- 
mands pro- 
tection 
rather  than 
compulsion. 


12  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

yet  it  does  not  permit  minors  and,  in  some  states,  women 
to  vote. 
Protection  Since  some  persons  prefer  to  injure  rather  than  to  help 

of  nghts  ^j^gij.  fellows,  the  laws  protect  our  rights  by  declaring  certain 
inals through  2-cts  to  be  crimes.  An  art  is  criminal  if  it  injures  not  only 
the  criminal  the  aggrieved  person  but  society  in  general.  Technically  it 
^^*  is  a  crime,  however,  only  when  the  law  declares  that  such  an 

act  is  a  crime.     Ihe  broadest  way  in  which  society  protects 
itseK  and  the  rights  of  its  members  is  by  defining  crime  and 
punishing  criminals.     It  also  protects  its  members  carefully 
from  unjust  charges  and  attacks.     If  accused  of  crime,  a 
citizen  has  righ  ts  which  are  safeguarded  in  numerous  ways 
so  that  he  will  not  be  punished  unless  he  is  reaUy  guilty. 
Guarding  of       H-    Some  Rights  that  we  have  in  dealing  with  Other 
our  interests  Individuals.  —  Protection  of  our  interests  is  not  granted  solely 
ci^^law     ^  against  criminals.     It  is  extended  to  every  sphere  of  our  life, 
political,  economic,  and  social.     If  a  person  interferes  with 
us,  our  rights,  or  our  property,  he  may  do  so  not  because  he 
is  a  criminal  but  because  he  believes  that  he  has  a  right  to  do 
what  he  has  done.     The  dispute  may  be  over  the  payment  of 
a  note  or  the  fulfillment  of  some  other  kind  of  contract. 
I'   may  arise  out  of  an  employee's  neglect  of  work  or  an 
employer's  failure  to  place  proper  safeguards  on  dangerous 
machinery.     Such  disputes  are  not  criminal  in  nature  but 
lead  to  civil  cases  which  the  courts  must  decide.     The  rights 
of  each  party  are  investigated,  and  a  decision  is  given  to  pro- 
tect the  one  whose  rights  have  been  infringed. 
Two  kinds  of       12.   Rights  under  our   Governments.  —  Every  American 
protection       citizen  is  entitled  to  rights,  not  only  in  his  dealings  with  other 
dtizenhas      individuals  but  with  groups.     His  legal   rights   are   those 
in  relation  to  which  he  has  (I)  uftder  the  organization  which  makes  the 
m^nf^^^'^'^'     laws,   that  is,   the  government,   or    (II)    against  that  or- 
ganization. 
Types  of  (I)    Under  the  governments  the  citizen  has  a  right,  by  the 

freedom  state  or  national  Constitution  and  by  statutes,  to  his  life, 

the'^  govern-  liberty,  and  property.  He  has  the  right  to  protection  under 
mei>t.  the  law  equal  to  that  given  by  the  government  to  others 


RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  I3 

The  rights  which  he  has  against  criminals  and  in  civil  suits 
come  under  this  heading,  but  the  government  protects  him 
in  multitudes  of  ways  in  addition  to  criminal  cases  and  civil 
suits.  He  is  protected  when  he  travels  abroad.  He  is  al- 
lowed to  go  and  come  from  his  home  as  he  pleases.  He  has 
the  right  and  freedom  of  thought  and  action,  including  po-  ^ 
litical  beUef  ^  and  religious  faith. 

Moreover,  our  governments  frequently  and  usually  promote  Promotion 
the  welfare  of  the  citizen.     Free  pubhc  schools,  parks,  and  of  Public  wel- 
playgrounds  exist  for  his  benefit.     The  organization  of  cor-  govem- 
porations  with  many  legal  privileges  aids  his  business  and  in-  ments. 
creases  the  amount  of  wealth  which  is  produced.     Freedom 
from  taxation  makes  easier  the  work  of  hospitals,  homes  for 
children,  Y.  M.  C.  A.'s,  and  churches.     Public  utilities,  such 
as  municipal  water  plants  and  the  national  Post  Office,  give 
service  without  making  profit  the  first  and  chief  c^'nsidera- 
tion.    The  individual  citizen  benefits  directly  or  indirectly 
from  these  activities  of  our  governments. 

13.    Rights  against  the  Governments.  —  (II)  In  the  past  Need  of  pro- 
most  governments,  that  is,  political  organizations,  were  not  Meeting 

.  ^  11  .  1.11         people  in  the 

democratic.     Consequently  they  were  more  interested  in  help-  past  from 
ing  the  class  to  which  the  rulers  belonged  than  in  protecting  their  gov- 
the  rights  of  the  people.     The  history  of  the  EngUsh  people  for  ^^^°^^"^* 
several  centuries  was  to  a  large  extent  the  story  of  a  struggle 
by  those  who  did  not  have  control  of  the  government  against 
the  arbitrary  rule  of  the  king  and  his  advisers.     Magna  Carta, 
the  increasing  powers  of  Parliament,  the  Petition  of  Right, 
and  the  Bill  of  Rights  limited  the  powers  of  the  EngHsh  mon- 
arch and  gained  rights  for  the  citizen  of  England  before  1700. 
In  the  American  colonies  the  colonial  assemblies  strove  con- 
stantly, during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  to 
limit  the  authority  of  the  royal  governors. 

When  we  adopted  our  national  Constitution  and  framed 
our  state  constitutions,  we  adopted  bills  of  rights  which  pro- 

^  The  "  right "  to  vote  is  a  political  privilege.  It  becomes  a  right  of  any  citizen 
only  when  it  is  conferred  on  all  persons  of  the  group  or  class  to  which  the  citizen 
belongs. 


14 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Bills  of 
rights  in 
our   national 
and  state 
constitutions. 


Four  classes 
of  rights. 


Demand  for 
individual 
liberty  in  the 
late    eight- 
eenth 
century. 


Why   social 
rights    take 
precedence 
of  individual 
rights. 


tected  citizens  against  the  aggressions  of  the  rulers  whom  we 
selected  for  our  governments.  Most  of  these  provisions  were 
copied  from  the  old  EngHsh  laws  just  mentioned,  but  some 
others  have  been  added  which  aim  to  keep  our  officials  from 
interfering  with  other  Hberties  of  the  people. 

14.  Summary  of  Rights.  —  We  can  see  from  this  brief 
survey  of  rights  that  there  are  four  classes  of  rights  which 
make  up  "  civil  liberty."  (i)  First  there  are  the  rights  to 
opportunities  such  as  a  good  home,  decent  surroundings, 
and  good  schooling.  (2)  Then  we  are  entitled  to  protection 
against  such  dangers  as  preventable  diseases,  cruel  treatment 
by  parents,  and  unfair  domination  by  huge  and  unscrupulous 
corporations.  (3)  We  have  rights  to  hfe  and  property  which 
others  must  respect.  These  are  protected  by  civil  and  crim- 
inal laws  through  the  courts.  (4)  Last  of  all,  though  pro- 
tected long  before  others  were  safeguarded,  are  the  rights 
which  we  have  against  arbitrary  government. 

15.  Individual  Liberty  and  Social  Progress.  —  During  the 
last  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  we  gained  our 
independence  from  Great  Britain,  there  was  a  widespread 
protest,  especially  in  the  United  States  and  France,  against 
arbitrary  government.  It  was  asserted  that  all  men  should 
have  certain  natural  rights  as  individuals.  Since  arbitrary 
government  denied  these  rights,  the  people  overthrew  the  old 
rule  and  estabhshed  new  governments  based  on  individual 
liberty. 

The  experience  of  the  American  people  during  the  last 
fifty  years  proves  that  individual  rights  are  neither  the  chief 
object  of  government  nor  the  best  basis  for  popular  rule. 
We  have  come  to  believe  that  the  individual  should  have 
rights  chiefly  because  society  is  the  better  off  for  his  having 
liberty.  But  if  this  Hberty  means  that  others  must  have 
fewer  rights  than  they  otherwise  would  have,  his  rights  are 
gained  at  the  expense  of  social  progress  and  welfare.  This 
is  true,  even  if  his  liberty  does  not  degenerate  into  license, 
that  is,  the  freedom  to  do  exactly  as  he  pleases. 

Therefore  we  assert  that  the  individual  should  have  just  as 


RIGHTS  OF  CITIZENSHIP 


15 


much  liberty  as  is  best,  first  for  society,  and  secondly  for  him, 
neither  more  nor  less.  In  other  words,  his  rights  are  not  so 
much  the  rights  which  he  has  as  an  individual  as  those  which 
he  enjoys  as  a  member  of  society.  This  seems  to  be  fair  and 
just,  for  rights  are  after  all  only  the  advantages  which  he 
enjoys  from  his  relations  with  his  fellows  (§  8).  In  short, 
rights  do  not  belong  to  the  individual  as  such,  but  to  the 
individual  in  his  associations  with  other  members  of  society. 


Rights  of  the 
citizen     are 
not    individ- 
ual rights  but 
social  rightb- 


SoME  Civic  Obligations 

16.  The  Connection  between  Interests,  and  both  Rights  and 
Obligations.  —  If  a  citizen's  rights  grow  out  of  his  association 
with  his  fellows,  that  is,  out  of  his  civic  relations,  his  obliga- 
tions are  no  less  an  outgrowth  of  exactly  the  same  relations. 
If  his  relations  with  other  persons  are  simple,  as  in  the  case 
of  a  trapper  who  twice  a  year  trades  pelts  for  food  and 
ammunition,  the  civic  rights  which  he  uses  are  comparatively 
few  and  his  obligations  are  limited  also.  If  he  is  an  unmarried 
employee  Uving  away  from  home,  his  real  rights  in  fact  are 
not  numerous,  and  his  obligations,  social  and  economic,  are 
not  heavy.  On  the  contrary,  a  man  of  business,  a  head  of  a 
family,  a  person  of  importance  in  his  church  and  community, 
has  interests  which  are  very  much  broader  than  those  of  the 
trapper  or  a  bachelor  employee.  Each  interest  carries  with 
it  obhgations  and  duties  as  well  as  rights  or  opportunities.  A 
man  who  does  an  immense  business  and  possesses  properties 
of  great  value  has  correspondingly  more  rights  and  duties 
than  another  man  whose  wealth  is  less  and  whose  business 
is  smaller,  but  who  otherwise  has  interests  almost  identical 
with  those  of  the  captain  of  industry. 

17.  Some  Primary  Civic  Duties.  —  Since  duties  are  as 
varied  as  relationships  or  interests,  they  must  be  explained 
in  later  chapters  when  we  discuss  those  relationships  or  inter- 
ests. Only  a  few  suggestions  can  be  made  here.  The  first 
duty  resting  on  any  citizen  is  to  know  his  obligations ^  for  if  he 
is  ignorant  of  a  duty  he  probably  will  not  do  it.    Possibly 


How  each  in- 
terest of  a 
citizen   car- 
ries with  it 
rights     and 
obhgations. 


The  duty  of 
knowing 
our    obliga- 
tions. 


l6  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

some  obligations  can  be  learned  by  studying  his  rights.     As 

it  is  human  nature  to  magnify  rights,  he  is  likely  to  know  at 

least  some  of  these  rights  even  if  he  does  not  notice  the 

obligations  which  accompany  them. 

Duty  of  at-       This  primary  civic  duty  of  knowing  one's  obUgations  is,  of 

schod^to       course,  closely  connected  with  civic  education,  although  civic 

learn  our       education  trains  us  to  know  more  than  simply  our  duties. 

duties  as       Since  school  education  is  an  important  means  of  learning  our 

things.  duties,  evidently  there  is  an  obhgation  resting  on  the  youthful 

citizen  to  make  good  use  of  that  opportunity. 
Importance         Most  people  Consider  obedience  the  primary  duty  of  any 
of  obedience,  citizen,  but  we  must  first  know  what  to  obey  and  how  to 
obey.     The  laws  which  have  been  made  for  society  must  be 
obeyed,  of  course,  whether  they  are  local,  state,  or  national. 
Even  if  they  are  poor  laws  or  bad  laws,  obedience  is  better 
than  neglect,  for  a  poor  law  which  is  neglected,  i.e.  not  en- 
forced, will  remain  on  the  statute  books,  whereas  people  will 
soon  demand  the  repeal  of  a  bad  law  which  is  enforced  and  the 
enactment  in  its  place  of  a  better  law. 
Obedience  to       He  must  help  to  keep  order  by  being  law-abiding  himself, 
high  stand-     jf  ^g  j^^s  low  ideals,  if  he  knows  how  to  obey  only  when  he 
ideals,  and  to  is  told  to  do  or  not  to  do  something,  he  will  never  obey  in  any 
principles.       real  sense.     Obedience  therefore  means  far  more  than  out- 
ward conformity  to  law,  whether  that  law  is  a  law  made  by 
men  or  merely  a  natural  law.     It  means  obedience  to  high 
personal  standards  and  high  civic  ideals.     It  means  considera- 
tion for  social  welfare  rather  than  regard  for  selfish  interests. 
To  obey  in  spirit  as  well  as  in  the  letter,  one  must  be  an  hon- 
est, inteiUgent  citizen.     Otherwise  the  citizen  fails  in  the  most 
fundamental  duty  of  all,  patriotism  (§  32). 
Duty  to  ob-       18.   Some  other  Public  Obligations.  —  Obedience  to  the 
serve  the        |a,ws  of  the  land  will  keep  us  from  injuring  others  or  their 
pro^^ty  ^^    property.     Even  the  criminal  is  restrained  by  the  knowledge 
rights  of         that,  if  he  takes  the  life  of  another  person,  he  will  be  im- 
others.  prisoned  for  life  or  put  to  death.     Therefore,  he  may  observe 

the  law  through  fear  of  consequences.     A  similar  risk  of  pun- 
ishment helps  all  men  to  obey  the  law&and  to  keep  their  hands 


CIVIC  OBLIGATIONS 


17 


off  the  property  of  others.  The  higher  type  of  obedience  just 
considered  should  also  lead  all  of  us  to  have  as  great  regard 
for  the  personal  and  property  rights  of  others  as  we  have  for 
our  own. 

Every  man  who  enjoys  special  privileges  has  a  duty  cor- 
responding to  each  privilege.  If  a  person  is  eligible  to  vote, 
he  has  also  an  obligation  not  simply  to  vote  but  to  vote  as  his 
conscience  and  his  intelligence  dictate.  If  he  owns  property 
—  wealth  which  he  or  his  ancestors  have  amassed  under 
the  protecting  care  of  society  (§§  144-145)  —  he  is  under 
obligation  to  pay  his  share  in  taxes  or  other  contributions 
toward  the  support  of  the  government. 

In  times  past,  jury  service  and  military  service  were  looked 
on  as  important  obligations  on  the  part  of  a  citizen  to  society. 
The  jury  is  one  of  the  few  ways  in  which  the  average  man  can 
help  directly  in  the  carrying  out  of  the  laws  and  in  the  admin- 
istration of  justice.  Military  service  was  the  chief  means 
through  which  citizens  could  protect  the  country  in  time  of 
danger.  Judging  from  events  in  Europe  during  recent  years, 
it  may  be  as  important  in  the  future  as  it  has  been  in  the  past. 

19.  Duties  to  Other  Individuals.  —  The  duty  of  any 
citizen,  old  or  young,  to  any  other  person  or  to  any  group  of 
persons,  grows  out  of  his  relations  with  those  others,  but  it 
rests  to  a  large  extent  on  his  obhgations  to  himself.  He 
owes  it  to  himself  that  he  should  not  shirk  his  duties  to  others. 
Almost  every  boy  wants  to  be  independent,  manly,  "  square," 
and  useful.  Being  honest  and  fair  in  his  views  of  himself,  he 
understands  that  his  parents  and  his  fellows  have  helped 
him  to  become  a  useful  and  valuable  citizen.  He  owes  his 
parents  respect  not  simply  because  they  are  his  parents  but 
for  care  and  guidance  during  his  childhood  and  youth.  As 
they  may  have  given  years  of  love  and  care  without  thought 
of  return  (though  through  mistaken  kindness  they  may  have 
been  overindulgent),  they  are  entitled  to  his  filial  devotion  and 
his  confidence. 

How  can  a  boy  be  independent,  manly,  square,  and  useful, 
without   granting    the    same   opportunities   and   rights    to 


Obligations 
growing  out 
of  privileges 
or  other  so- 
cially pro- 
tected in- 
terests. 


Jury  and 
military  serv- 
ice, past, 
present,   and 
future. 


Duties  to 
parents    and 
friends. 


1 8  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

Why  regard  others?  If  he  demands  independence  for  himself,  surely  he 
for  others  is  ^quM  not  expect  Others  to  have  less;  certainly  he  cannot 
duty  for  a  expect  to  have  independence  at  the  expense  of  theirs.  That 
citizen.  would  be  neither  manly  nor  square.     But  what  is  this  inde- 

pendence ?  If  it  is  the  right  to  do  as  he  pleases,  injuring  those 
who  are  weaker  than  he  and  disregarding  the  rights  of  others, 
he  can  become  independent  only  through  sacrificing  the 
independence  of  others.  But  in  that  case  might  makes  right, 
and  independence  is  a  possession  only  of  the  strong  and 
brutal ;  of  the  prize  fighter,  not  the  gentleman ;  of  the  bully, 
not  the  man.  Independence  then  involves  a  claim  to  those 
rights  only  which  are  conceded  to  others;  the  finer,  the 
squarer,  and  more  manly  the  boy,  the  more  clearly  he  recog- 
nizes the  obHgations  as  well  as  the  rights  of  independence. 
In  the  older  days  of  chivalry  there  was  a  phrase  which  ex- 
pressed this  thought,  "  noblesse  obUge,"  that  is,  nobility 
compels.  So  to-day  the  nobility  of  manhood,  not  of  birth, 
makes  regard  for  others  the  very  essence  of  manliness  and 
good  citizenship. 
Good  citizen-  20.  Social  Criminals.  —  For  the  normal  citizen,  rights  and 
ship  to  be      obHsrations  must  ero  together.     Moreover,  as  has  just  been 

measured  by    .     ..'^         ,  ■,    .  .  i  •  .  ■,  i  i        i  i       • 

what  one  mdicated,  good  citizenship  must  be  measured  by  the  emphasis 
does.  placed  upon  obligations.     The  greatest  citizen  of  any  com- 

munity is  the  one  who  really  does  most  for  it,  not  the  one  for 
whom  most  is  done.     The  greatest  Presidents  are  not  those 
who  have  asked  most  of  the  people,  but  those  who  have  done 
most  for  the  good  of  the  nation. 
Four  classes       If  we  Were  to  consider  the  different  classes  of  American  citi- 
that  have      ^ens,  we  should  find  but  four  that  are  entitled  to  rights  with- 
out the  corre-  out  being  asked  to  do  much  in  return.     These  are  the  httle 
sponding  ob-  children,  the  "  lame,  halt,  and  blind,"  the  sick,  and  the  aged, 
hgations.        These  persons,  because  of  their  age,  or  on  account  of  physical 
or  mental  defects,  being  unable  to  contribute  their  share  to 
the  general  welfare,  are  exempt  from  most  of  the  obHgations 
which  the  norma^  citizen  must  perform. 

There  can  be  but  one  conclusion,  those  that  insist  on  rights 
and  refuse  to  meet  the  corresponding  obUgations  fail  in  a 


CIVIC  OBLIGATIONS 


19 


sacred  trust:  they  are  social  criminals.  They  have  taken 
from  loving  parents,  from  earnest  friends,  and  from  a  benefi- 
cent country  all  that  each  could  offer.  In  return  they  have 
been  selfish  wasters,  gaining  profit  by  others'  loss,  and  injuring 
all  who  stood  in  their  paths.  Their  fault  and  their  failure  may 
have  been,  in  the  beginning,  the  result  of  ignorance,  but  their 
failure  is  really  explained  by  their  unwilUngness  to  live  up  to 
their  obligations. 

General  References 

Willoughby,  Rights  and  Duties  of  American  Citizenship. 

Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State,  212-218,  456-470,  553-558. 

Brewer,  American  Citizenship. 

Bryce,  The  Hindrances  to  Good  Citizenship. 

Hadley,  Freedom  and  Responsibility. 


Why    people 
who  demand 
rights  and 
neglect 
obUgations 
are  social 
criminals. 


Topics 

Rights  Against  Our  Governments:  Ashley,  American  Federal 
State,  456-464;  Beard,  American  Citizenship,  34-53;  Cooley,  Prin- 
ciples of  Constitutional  Law,  278-357;  Burgess,  Political  Science 
and  Constitutional  Law,  I,  184-252;  Cooley,  Constitutional  Limita- 
tions, Chaps.  IX-XIII. 

Some  Primary  Civic  Duties:  Brewer,  American  Citizenship, 
3-29,  87-106;  Root,  The  Citizen'' s  Part  in  Government,  5-31 ;  Bryce, 
Hindrances  to  Good  Citizenship,  20-74. 

Making  Citizens  of  Immigrants:  Antin,  Mary,  in  Atlantic 
Monthly,  109  (191 2),  211-226;  Daniels,  J.,  in  Survey,  24  (1910), 
373-385;   Beard,  Woman's  Work  in  Municipalities,  170-198. 


Studies 

1.  Pure  food  for  babies.      Bru^re,  R.  W.,  in  Harper's  Magazine, 
122  (1911),  519-521. 

2.  The  rights  of  labor.     Beard,  American  Citizenship,  60-62. 

3.  Model   milk  supplies.      Flint,  W.  R.,  in  Good   Housekeeping, 
50  (1910),  765-769. 

4.  The  trial  of  a  criminal  case.      Baldwin,  American  Judiciary, 
226-251;   Train,  Prisoner  at  the  Bar,  148-177,  261-278. 

5.  The  trial  of  a  civil  suit.     Baldwin,  American  Judiciary,  201-2 14. 

6.  The  basis  of  civil  liberty.     Hadley,  Freedom  and  Responsibility, 

26-47- 

7.  Education  of  foreigners  in  American  citizenship.      Abbott,  G., 
in  Conference  Good  City  Government,  1910,  275-384. 


20  THE  NEW   CIVICS 

Questions 

1.  Explain  the  difference  between  a  citizen  and  a  voter.     Ex 
plain  carefully  all  of  the  ideas  in  the  expression,  "  citizenship  is 
social,  is  universal,  and  is  natural." 

2.  Show  how  an  alien  may  be  naturalized.  What  is  the  danger  if 
only  a  short  period  of  residence  is  required  of  aliens  before  naturaliza- 
tion ;  if  the  period  is  made  rather  long  ? 

3.  Show  how  government  deals  almost  exclusively  with  group  needs 
rather  than  individual  needs.  Show  also  how  citizenship,  i.e.  mem- 
bership in  society,  is  concerned  quite  as  much  with  individual  needs. 
Show,  therefore,  why  the  subject  of  American  citizenship  is  much  broader 
than  that  of  American  government. 

4.  If  possible  name  some  persons  or  group  in  the  home,  school,  com- 
munity, state,  or  nation  with  whom  we  have  social  relations  under  each 
of  the  six  classes  of  relationships  indicated  below. 

A  citizen  has  relations  as  follows : 


Social 


with  individuals 


,  with  groups 


in  a  group  of  which  we  are  f  direct 
members  1  indirect 


•I  indii 


m  a  group  of  which  we  ,  .    ,.      . 
^  u  ^  mdirect 

are  not  members  { 

of  which  we  are  members  |  j^direct 

of  which  we  are  not  mem-  f  .    ,. 
bers  ^^^^'•^^^ 


(A  similar  outline  can  be  made  for  economic  relations  and  political 
relations,  if  desired.) 

5.  If  each  of  us  has  direct  relations  with  our  teacher  and  with  every 
other  member  of  our  Civics  class,  what  rights  have  we  in  our  dealings 
with  our  teacher,  with  our  fellow  students?  What  obligations  have  we 
toward  each  and  toward  the  whole  class  ?  Is  there  not  a  duty  correspond- 
ing to  each  right  and  a  duty  connected  with  each  right? 

6.  Why  must  society  in  general  and  each  family  in  particular  protect 
carefully  and  promote  wisely  all  the  rights  of  every  child? 

7.  Why  do  we  have  rights  against  our  governments  as  well  as  under 
our  governments?     Give  three  examples  of  each. 

8.  Illustrate  the  way  in  which  obligations  grow,  or  widen,  with  the 
improvement  in  the  social,  economic,  or  political  position  of  the  citizen. 
Why  were  mihtary  service  and  jury  duty  at  one  time  the  chief  public 
obligations  of  every  man  ? 

9.  Who  are  social  criminals  and  why?  In  high  school  should  any 
boy  or  girl  allow  himself  or  herself  to  act  in  a  socially  criminal  way 
through  ignorance  or  carelessness? 


CHAPTER  II 


THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE   CITIZEN 


Home  and  School 


21.  Beginnings  of  Civic  Training  in  the  Home.  —  Like 
charity  the  training  of  the  citizen  begins  at  home.  The 
training  of  a  little  child  in  the  homelier,  simpler  virtues  occurs 
during  the  years  of  babyhood  and  early  childhood.  Even 
if  the  home  does  not  teach  citizenship  directly,  at  least  it  can 
and  should  lay  the  foundations  of  good  citizenship  in  char- 
acter. 

The  home  is  able  to  show  the  child  that  he  has  rights,  not 
by  giving  him  a  Hst  of  rights  to  memorize,  but  by  allowing 
him  to  exercise  them  daily.  The  better  the  home  is  from  the 
civic  point  of  view,  the  more  it  will  teach  duty  through 
practice  rather  than  through  precept.  It  stands  to  reason 
that  the  real  home  is  the  one  which  neither  neglects  nor  spoils 
the  child.  The  home  of  our  grandfathers,  in  which  "  children 
were  seen  but  not  heard,"  did  not  necessarily  train  the  child 
well.  It  taught  him  to  do  as  he  was  told,  but  it  did  not  teach 
him  self-reliance  or  self-direction.  Such  a  strict  supervision 
might  have  had  no  better  influence  on  the  youth  or  even  on 
the  child  than  the  indulgence  of  many  modern  homes. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  first  duty  of  any  home 
is  to  teach  the  child  to  obey.  This  does  not  mean  that  the 
child  should  obey  orders  blindly,  for  it  may  be  assumed 
that  the  requests  made  of  the  child  are  not  arbitrary  demands 
but  are  reasonable.  But  in  the  home,  as  on  the  field  of  battle, 
if  necessary,  those  who  do  not  lead  must  obey  without  ques- 
tion —  "  Theirs  not  to  reason  why."  In  every  organization, 
whether  it  is  the  family,  the  government,  or  the  army,  there 

21 


Why  civic 
training 
begins  in 
the  home. 


How  the 
home  teaches 
rights  aiid 
duties. 


Obedience 
to   parental 
authority. 


22  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

must  be  some  authority,  and  in  the  family  this  belongs  to 
the  parents  —  the  head  of  the  house.     Respect  for  parents 
is  the  first  form  in  which  regard  for  authority  is  developed. 
Actual  use  The  home  teaches  us  some  of  our  first  and  best  lessons 

made  of  so-    regarding  the  limitations  of  our  own  rights.     For  any  one  to 
sibiiity  and     have  many  rights  which  are  denied  to  others  of  the  family 
cooperation     group  is  manifestly  unfair.     For  each  to  have  all  of  the  rights 
in  t  e   ome.   ^y^^^  -^q  j^ay  wish  to  enjoy  is  impossible.     Where  there  are 
many  members  of  the  family,  the  "  corners  are  rubbed  off," 
not  only  of  personal  peculiarities  but  of  unreasonable  demands 
for  rights.     In  making  concessions  to  others  who  have  rights 
of  their  own,  the  child  learns  his  first  lesson  in  civic  responsibil- 
ity, just  as  in  helping  about  the  home  he  learns  his  first  lesson 
in  cooperation. 
Why  general       22.   What  Kind  of  Education  does  a  Citizen  need? — Im- 
knowledge  IS  pQ^tant  as  the  home  is  in  beginning  the  training  of  the  citi- 
dtizenship.      zen,  it  cannot  complete  his  civic  education.     That  must  be 
finished  in  the  school  and  in  the  world  of  affairs.     In  this  coun- 
try we  have  free  public  schools.     What  kind  of  citizen  should 
our  schools  turn  out  ?     Should  he  have  a  general  education  or 
a  technical  education  ?     Should  our  graduates  be  men  of  cul- 
ture or  men  of  affairs  or  cultured  men  of  affairs  ?     Can  a  man 
really  help  to  manage  a  republic  if  he  lacks  the  elements  of  a 
general  education  ?     If  he  is  trained  in  a  single  craft,  how  is  he 
to  know  much  about  so  compHcated  a  society  as  this  nation  of 
ours  ?    If  he  doesn't  know  what  his  rights  are  or  of  what  his 
duties  consist,. because  his  knowledge  is  too  limited  and  his 
comprehension  is  too  narrow,  how  can  he  be  a  good  citizen  ? 
Shall  we  not  say  then  that  the  more  general  knowledge  he  has 
the  better  is  he  able,  other  things  being  equal,  to  be  a  man 
and  do  his  part  in  the  world. 
Why  a  prac-       Shall  we  then  learn  no  useful  occupation  or  trade  ?    We 
tical  educa-     m^st  earn  a  living,  and  we  want  it  to  be  a  decent  hving.     We 
uable!^    ^ "     want  it  to  be  a  Uving  which  will  support  more  than  just  our- 
selves.    Should  the  schools  prepare  its  pupils  for  a  craft  or 
should  they  not?     Certainly  all  must  admit  that  a  practical 
education  is  necessary,  but  what  is  most  practical?     From 


EDUCATION  IN  HOME  AND   SCHOOL 


23 


the  dollars  and  cents  point  of  view,  a  practical  education  ia 
one  that  prepares  a  man  or  woman  to  earn  as  good  a  living 
as  possible  with  the  least  possible  sacrifice.  Sometimes  a 
general  education  is  therefore  more  practical  than  a  technical 
education.     Moreover,  modern  society  is  learning  that  for  a 


Practical  Work  in  the  High  School  of  Practical  Arts, 
Boston,  Mass. 

nation  as  well  as  for  a  citizen,  the  best  education  is  the  cheap- 
est. We  are  constantly  demanding  more  school  training  as  a 
preparation  for  life  and  citizenship. 

23.  Self-education  as  the  Only  True  Education.  —  The  Work  that 
value  of  a  school  course  depends  on  the  extent  to  which  it  a  good  school 
really  does  prepare,  indirectly  rather  than  directly,  for  life. 
If  it  teaches  us  to  know  ourselves  better,  to  learn  concentra- 
tion and  abiHty  to  study,  to  develop  the  power  of  analysis 
and  the  ability  to  think,  it  is  worth  while.  If  at  the  same 
time  it  teaches  us  to  know  the  world  about  us  —  and  the 


24 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Why  educa- 
tion is  self- 
education. 


Education  i 
a  social 
means  of 
self-preser- 
vation. 


Why  educa- 
tion is  con- 
nected with 
many  other 
activities  of 
society. 


ancients  are  often  good  masters  in  that  capacity  —  and  helps 
us  to  deal  better  with  our  fellowmen,  it  is  preparing  us  to  make 
a  good  return  to  society  for  the  education  which  society  has 
furnished. 

The  value  of  any  course  depends  far  less  upon  the  course 
than  upon  ourselves,  for  after  all  there  is  no  education  but 
self -education.  If  we  let  it  awaken  our  interest,  arouse  our 
enthusiasm,  and  absorb  our  attention ;  that  is,  if  we  really 
learn  because  of  the  opportunities  it  offers,  it  will  carry  us  a 
long  way  toward  our  goal.  The  process  of  education  must  be 
subjective  —  that  is,  of  and  by  ourselves  —  rather  than 
objective  —  that  is,  in  the  studies  offered  for  our  use. 

24.  Why  Public  Education  must  be  not  only  Free  but 
Universal.  —  The  type  of  education  is  less  important  than  its 
purpose,  its  character,  and  the  extent  of  time  that  it  covers. 
In  a  democratic  nation  education  is  not  a  luxury;  it  is  a 
necessity,  a  means  of  self-preservation.  Free  public  educa- 
tion is  one  of  the  chief  means  by  which  youthful  citizens  learn 
to  become  useful  members  of  society.  The  education  is  not 
primarily  for  their  benefit  but  for  the  advancement  of  the 
whole  people.  Pubhc  education,  being  a  preventive  and 
protective  measure,  must  be  compulsory,  at  least  for  the 
elements  of  school  training. 

Education  cannot  justly  be  compulsory  if  the  parents  need 
the  help  of  their  boys  and  girls.  If  the  wage-earner  of  a  family 
is  disabled,  the  children  must  earn  money  unless  society  sees 
that  the  family  needs  are  met.  If  forced  to  labor,  the  children 
will  be  deprived  of  even  a  grammar  school  education.  If  chil- 
dren are  not  properly  educated,  how  can  they  as  adults  earn  a 
hving  wage,  and  provide  for  themselves  and  their  families? 
Therefore,  a  complete  system  of  pubUc  education  is  essential 
to  prevent  child-labor,  to  fit  those  deprived  of  sight  or  hearing 
and  those  who  are  lame  or  crippled  for  some  work  which  they 
can  do,  and  to  give  all  boys  and  girls  a  preparation  for  hfe 
which  will  enable  them  to  earn  a  good  living.^ 

^  Education  is  therefore  tied  up  in  such  apparently  unrelated  subjects  as  child 
labor,  accident  insurance,  the  minimum  wage,  etc. 


PREPARATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP 


25 


If  our  school  system  does  no  more  than  that,  it  is  doing  but  The  value 


and  the  dan- 
gers of  train- 
ing for  craft. 


half  its  work.  Vocational  training  ^  which  is  given  in  the 
grammar  grades  should  supplement  general  training,  not  sup- 
plant it.  There  is  danger  that  the  child  who  is  taught  only 
a  craft  may  become  a  member  of  a  class,  not  a  real  citizen  of  a 
nation. 

Preparation  for  Life  and  Citizenship 

25.   Training  in  Citizenship  in  the  School.  —  The  school  Practical  and 

is  a  training  ground  for  citizens  less  through  its  courses  than  valuajDle  civic 

through  itself.     It  takes  the  child,  acquainted  only  with  gafned  hJ^^ 

inmates  of  his  home  or  a  few  playmates,  and  makes  him  a  school. 


Photo  by  Verne  Morton,  Oroton,  N.  Y. 

Boys'  Court  in  the  George  Junior  Republic,  Freeville,  New  York. 


member  of  a  much  larger  world.  He  is  enrolled  as  one  of  a 
group,  a  grade,  which  normally  has  a  room  to  itself.  Here  he 
has  a  desk  in  which  he  keeps  his  books  and  other  belongings. 

^  The  term  vocational  is  here  used  in  the  narrow  sense  of  preparation  for  a 
trade  or  craft. 


26 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Democratic 
schools  the 
hope  of 
democracy 


Needs  of  or- 
ganization, 
rules,  and 
authority  in 
school  busi- 
ness, govern- 
ment, and 
society. 


He  has  regular  hours  for  attendance.  He  is  not  allowed  to 
do  as  he  pleases,  but  learns  to  refrain  even  from  talking  un- 
less it  is  desirable  that  he  should  speak.  In  short,  he  learns 
punctuality,  obedience,  orderliness,  regularity,  and  industry. 
He  gains  his  first  real  insight  into  cooperation,  team  work, 
when  the  group  does  any  class  work.  In  the  school  room  and 
on  the  playground  he  discovers  that  others  have  rights  which 
he  must  respect  or  he  will  be  punished.  In  the  classroom  he 
finds  that  his  own  rights  and  those  of  others  are  defined  in 
school  rules;  but  on  the  playground  public  sentiment  and 
the  desire  for  "  fair  play  "  are  the  ruling  forces.  Thus  for  the 
first  time  outside  of  his  home,  he  has  a  real  lesson  in  citizen- 
ship. 

By  the  school  the  child  is  prepared  for  democracy.  We  call 
this  a  democratic  country.  It  was  the  boast  of  our  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  that  "  all  men  are  created  equal," 
yet  the  free  public  school  is  one  of  the  few  democratic  insti- 
tutions which  we  possess.  In  it  the  child  of  the  poorest  and 
most  ignorant  parents  has  a  place  equal  to  that  of  the  very 
rich  child.  He  has  the  same  kind  of  desk,  similar  books, 
and  an  equal  chance  to  learn.  If  he  possesses  qualities  of 
scholarship  or  leadership,  he  may  have  the  advantage  of  his 
richer  schoolmates  in  the  classroom  or  on  the  playground. 
The  public  school  is  a  great  equalizer,  in  which  social  and 
class  distinctions  are  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Does  it  not 
offer  the  best  possible  preparation  for  citizenship  in  a  democ- 
racy? 

26.  Degrees  of  Self-government  in  Different  Schools.  — 
To  many  children  and  youths  the  school  seems  undemocratic 
because  it  is  not  wholly  self-governing.  School  rules  and  the 
authority  of  teacher  or  principal  are  continually  interfering 
with  the  Hberty  of  the  pupil,  and  he  is  aggrieved.  He  may 
not  yet  understand  that  no  society  can  govern  itself  without 
rules  and  organization.  He  does  not  realize  that  every 
society,  the  most  democratic  as  well  as  the  most  absolute, 
follows  customs  or  other  regulations  made  by  its  predecessors 
or  by  outsiders.    He  cannot  yet  perceive  that  the  essential 


PREPARATION  FOR   CITIZENSHIP  27 

of  success  in  a  self-governing  body  of  people  is  good  organiza- 
tion ;  nor  does  he  know  that  one  of  the  first  characteristics  of 
organization  is  the  granting  of  authority  to  those  in  charge 
of  the  work  to  be  done. 

Whether  it  is  desirable  to  have  active  seK-government  in  Why  the 
a  grammar  school,  or  high  school,  depends  therefore  on  the  substance 

,  1  1  rr^r  1       1  1  .  I-        IT  .      rather  than 

students  themselves.     Through  the  makmg  of  public  senti-  the  form  of 
ment  and  the  desire  of  a  whole  student  body  to  do  the  right  self-govem- 
thing,^  a  school  which  has  no  "  student  government "  may  ^^\l^ 
come  nearer  to  actual  self-government  than  another  which  has  schools  and 
an  organized  student  body,  with  officers  and  courts  for  the  ^^^  nations, 
trial  of  school  offenders.     That  school,  city,  state,  or  nation 
is  not  necessarily  the  most  truly  democratic  which  has  the 
most  democratic  method  of  electing  officials  or  the  most  uni- 
form laws.     Just  as  many  modern  states  are  content  with  the 
forms  of  popular  rule  without  the  substance,  so  some  student 
bodies  fail  to  value  the  substance  unless  they  have  also 
the  forms  of  self-government.     Of  course  any  school  in  which 
the  students  as  a  whole  wish  to  do  right,  and  in  which  they 
have  been  given  control  of  student  affairs,  halls,  playgrounds, 
and  study  rooms,  has  an  opportunity  to  be  really  self-govern- 
ing which  is  denied  to  most  other  schools. 

27.   The  Honor  System.  —  Every  school  gives  every  pupil  Extensive 
numerous  chances  to  prove  his  honesty.     It  is  not  necessary  ^^^  °^  ^^^ 

...  ,  1       t .  1  1  -1     .         11    honor  system 

to  cheat  on  exammations  in  order  to  be  dishonorable  in  school  in  most 
work.     Dishonest  work  may  be  found  in  dishonest  prepara-  schools 
tion  of  lessons,  in  notebook  work  which  does  not  represent 
the  efforts  of  the  pupil,  in  collateral  readings  that  are  done 
in  a  sHpshod  manner  or  done  only  in  appearance,  and  in  essays 
on  which  help  has  been  received.     Every  school  places  upon 

1  The  schoolboy  finds  it  difficult  to  understand  that  he  and  his  playmates 
really  decide  how  the  school  shall  be  governed.  If  students  remain  orderly 
under  mild  supervision,  rules  are  likely  to  be  lenient ;  whereas  there  must  be 
harsh  rules  and  heavy  punishment  if  the  students  of  the  school  are  not  law- 
abiding.  School  discipline  necessarily  is  severe  if  pupils  look  upon  leniency 
in  the  school  authorities  as  weakness  and  the  enforcement  of  very  few  regula- 
tions as  a  mark  of  inefficiency.  It  is  hardly  too  much  to  say  that,  from  this 
point  of  view,  "  as  are  the  scholars,  so  is  the  school." 


28 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Problems  in 
the  use  of  the 
honor  system 
in  examina- 
tions. 


The  selec- 
tion of  a 
vocation. 


their  honor  the  pupils  who,  day  after  day,  work  in  study 
hall,  classroom,  or  laboratory. 

Many  students  think  of  the  honor  system  chiefly  in  con- 
nection with  examinations.  They  resent  too  much  supervi- 
sion of  tests.  Yet  those  who  are  honest  would  resent  more 
strongly  any  scheme  by  which  the  dishonest  pupil  could 
cheat  easily  and  pass  in  circumstances  under  which  the 
honest  pupil  would  fail.  If  the  teacher  has  no  right  or 
authority  to  prevent  this  unfair  competition  by  which  the 
cheater  is  the  gainer,  then  the  pupils  must  themselves  make 
cheating  unsuccessful  and  give  honest  work  its  just  reward. 
How  can  that  be  done?  Possibly  in  one  of  two  ways, 
(i)  Might  it  not  be  possible  to  make  every  older  student  re- 
sponsible j  or  his  own  work,m.^kmg  him  see  that  if  he  cheats,  he 
is  stealing,  and  that  in  the  long  run  he  cheats  no  one  but  him- 
self ?  Naturally  we  cannot  depend  on  the  honor  of  individual 
pupils  in  so  important  a  matter  as  that  of  examinations, 
unless  all  pupils  have  high  standards  of  school  citizenship. 
(2)  If  any  one  in  a  class  does  cheat,  the  only  fair  plan  is  to 
hold  the  whole  body  of  students  responsible,  forcing  them  to  see 
that  the  culprit  is  punished,  or  at  least  is  prevented  from 
profiting  by  his  dishonesty. 

28.  The  Citizen  in  Business.  —  After  school,  what?  Cer- 
tainly some  useful  place  in  society,  probably  as  a  wage 
earner,  or  as  a  home-maker  who  spends  the  family  in- 
come to  the  best  advantage;  in  short,  becoming  an  ac- 
tive member  of  our  great  industrial  society.  School  edu- 
cation should  have  laid  the  foundation  for  life,  work  in 
the  industrial  world.  It  need  not  have  given  the  boy  or 
girl  a  vocation ;  ^  but  it  certainly  should  have  made  possible 

^  The  early  selection  of  a  vocation  is  almost  as  desirable  with  the  girls  as  with 
the  boys.  If  we  know  what  we  wish  to  do,  we  are  apt  to  do  it  better  because  we 
have  a  definite  aim  in  view.  We  may  change  our  idea  of  a  vocation,  but  the 
results  of  our  earlier  efiforts  will  be  of  lasting  benefit.  Moreover,  any  person, 
boy  or  girl,  man  or  woman,  may  be  thrown  absolutely  on  his  own  resources  and 
forced  to  earn  a  living.  The  world  is  full  of  unskilled,  unprepared  appUcants  for 
work,  among  whom  competition  is  keen  and  wages  therefore  are  very  low.  A 
vocation  for  emergencies  is  an  anchor  dropped  to  windward,  a  safeguard  worth 
having  in  time  of  financial  stress  and  storm. 


PREPARATION   FOR   CITIZENSHIP 


29 


the  rapid  and  successful  acquisition  of  a  vocation.  The 
graduate  from  high  school  or  college,  having  passed  the 
sophomoric  stage  or  stages  of  his  school  career,  should  be 
wilUng  to  begin  at  the  bottom  and  work  his  way  up.  School 
preparation  is  not  a  failure  if  it  forces  him  to  start  on  the 
lowest  round  of  the  ladder ;  it  is  a  failure  if  he  cannot  chmb 
higher. 

In  business  the  citizen  is  hkely  to  be  an  employee,  but  he 
may  be  an  independent  worker  or  an  employer.  In  aim  ^st 
every  case  he  finds  that  he  stands  or  falls  on  his  business 
merits.  He  learns  that  competition  is  keener  and  more  cruel 
than  it  was  in  the  sheltered  life  of  the  home  and  the  classroom. 
He  is  called  upon  continually  to  "  make  good  "  or  give  way 
to  another.  Possibly  he  is  compelled  to  meet  the  unfair  and 
unscrupulous  dealings  of  business  associates,  for  society 
through  its  government  can  prevent  only  the  grossest  forms 
of  swindle  and  fraud.  A  citizen  who  wants  to  do  the  right 
thing  finds  that  he  needs  ideals  of  conduct  and  knowledge  of 
economic  theories  less  than  he  needs  practical  standards 
which  he  can  use. 

Whether  he  is  an  employer  or  an  employee,^  he  finds  it  is 
necessary  to  work  out  a  standard  of  honesty.  An  employee 
must  be  honest  with  his  employer,  with  his  customers,  and 
with  himself,  for  it  is  true  to-day  as  in  the  past, ''  to  thine  own 
self  be  true,  and  it  must  follow,  as  the  night  the  day,  thou  canst 
not  then  be  false  to  any  man."     The  solution  of  such  a  triple 


Need  of 
eflficiency  and 
?ood  stand- 
aids. 


The  duty  of 
an  employee 
to  his  em- 
ployer, to 
society,  and 
to  himself. 


^  An  employer  has  more  difl&culty  in  deciding  what  is  right  because  he  must 
consider  larger  problems.  Inevitably  also  an  employer's  standards  have  more 
influence  on  society  than  those  of  an  individual  employee.  What  are  his  stand- 
ards of  business  ethics?  Is  it  his  idea  that  nothing  is  wrong  unless  it  is  illegal? 
Is  efficiency  his  first  and  only  criterion,  even  if  his  success  is  gained  at  the  expense 
of  his  employees  or  the  pubUc?  Better  than  either  of  these  is  undoubtedly  the 
standard  of  strict  honesty,  unless  honesty  has  too  negative  a  meaning,  as  we 
noticed  above.  Certain  also  it  is  that  he  must  succeed  if  he  is  to  stay  in  business, 
that  failure  to  stay  in  business  injures  every  one  of  those  with  whom  he  comes 
in  contact,  and  that  therefore  he  who  neglects  his  business  for  the  supposed 
welfare  of  others  is  not  a  valuable  citizen  from  the  economic  point  or  view, 
which  is,  by  the  way,  a  very  important  viewpoint.  Attending  to  business  and 
making  a  success  of  business  are,  other  things  being  equal,  very  high  proofs  of 
good  citizenship. 


30 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


problem  demands  that  he  have  definite  standards  of  conduct ; 
a  proper  solution  for  a  good  citizen  calls  for  character,  good 
common  sense,  and  knowledge  not  found  in  books. 


Emportance 
of  personal 
knd  of  civic 
character. 


Negative 
and  positive 
virtues  in 
character. 


Foundations  and  Effects  of  Good  Citizenship 

29.  Character  as  the  Basis  of  Citizenship.  —  It  is  a  law  of 
nature  that  a  stream  cannot  rise  higher  than  its  source.  It 
is  no  less  true  that  good  citizenship  —  considering  citizens  in 
their  proper  social,  economic,  and  political  relations  —  must 
rest  on  a  sohd  foundation,  —  the  personal  character  of  each 
citizen.  Character  is  not  an  attribute  of  a  man  —  it  is  the 
man  himself.  It  is  not  reputation,  for  his  reputation  is  what 
others  think  of  him.  Character  is  far  more  than  the  sum 
total  of  those  qualities  which  we  sometimes  call  moral  char- 
acter. It  must  include  in  addition  knowledge,  discipline, 
ability,  and  efficiency.  Civic  character  must  also  include 
pubhc  spirit.  To  discuss  the  qualities  which  lie  at  the 
foundation  of  citizenship  because  they  make  up  character — 
moral  character,  general  character,  and  civic  character  —  we 
should  need  a  separate  volume.  A  few  suggestions  only  can 
be  attempted. 

Self-control  must  underlie  character ;  otherwise  we  must  be 
satisfied  at  the  best  with  good  intentions.  We  rnust  have  not 
only  the  desire  to  do  right  but  the  will  to  keep  from  doing 
wrong.  Without  self-control  even  the  fundamental  virtue 
of  obedience  to  principle  will  remain  undeveloped.  But 
moral  character  is  not  negative.  Pure-mindedness,  industry, 
thoroughness,  and  perseverance  are  as  truly  its  attributes  as 
are  the  more  negative  virtues  of  self-control  and  obedience. 
Initiative  and  independence  of  judgment  are  equally  neces- 
sary for  the  full  development  of  character.  We  must  not 
think  more  highly  of  the  character  of  him  who  is  simply 
"  good  "  than  of  the  one  who  "  does  things."  A  citizen  should 
be  not  only  good,  but  good  for  something. 

Unselfishness  is  even  more  important  in  general  civic  life 
than  it  is  in  the  family  circle  and  in  the  school.     The  loving, 


FOUNDATIONS  OF  GOOD   CITIZENSHIP  31 

unselfish  devotion  of  a  father  or  mother  is  the  mainspring  of  Unselfi^h- 
the  home  Hfe,  but  unselfish  citizenship  —  honesty  in  deahng  ^ess  in  per^ 
with  all  men,  fairness  toward  enemy  as  well  as  friend,  ad-  civic  affairs, 
herence  to  principle  though  at  a  personal  sacrifice  —  is  a 
nobler  and  a  rarer  thing. 

30.   Knowledge  and  Ability.  —  An  important  element  of  information 
personal  or  of  civic  character  is  knowledge.     Knowledge  is  knowledge, 
not  information,  for  the  latter  is  but  a  mass  of  unrelated  facts.   ^^   °"^' 
Knowledge  is  information  which  has  been  organized,  system- 
atized, made  our  own.     An  English  king,  known  for  his  learn- 
ing, was  called  "  the  wisest  fool  in  Europe."    To  be  informed 
is  not  to  have  knowledge,  and  to  have  knowledge,  so  often 
do  we  fail  to  make  it  really  our  own,  is  alas,  not  always  to  have 
wisdom. 

What  knowledge  is  most  worth  while  ?     We  can  only  say.  Value  and 
that  which  helps  to  develop  us  most  by  giving  us  the  best  jipf^tations  of 
understanding  of  ourselves  and  the  best  comprehension  of  life  solving  our 
and  its  problems.     History  certainly  is  valuable  if  it  shows  civic  prob- 
us  how  humanity  developed  our  civilization  to-day.     History    ^^^' 
gives  us  valuable  lessons  on  the  failures  and  successes  of  men 
in  the  past.     If  we  can  read  those  lessons  aright,  we  may  be 
able  to  avoid  the  pitfalls  in  which  other  peoples  met  their 
fate,  and  possibly  we  can  profit  also  by  their  successes.     If  we 
do  not  know  men  and  their  motives,  especially  ourselves,  our 
strength  and  our  weakness,  all  other  knowledge   certainly 
will  be  vanity.     Only  that  knowledge  which  can  be  used  and 
which  is  used  can  be  of  value  to  any  citizen. 

As  has  been  suggested,  good  citizenship  consists  less  in  Efficiency 
intention  than  in  action  which  produces  results.     The  citizen  ^^^eded  m  all 
must  therefore  be  efficient  as  well  as  upright  and  well-in-  personal  and 
formed.     Efficiency  should  not  be  monopolized  by  the  world  civic  action: 
of  business ;  we  need  it  every  day  in  everything  that  we  do. 
Good  planning  saves  many  hours  of  useless  toil  in  the  school 
as  well  as  in  the  shop.     Efficiency  is  needed  in  government 
and  in  all  pubhc  activities.     One  nineteenth  century  post- 
master-general asserted  that,  in  his  day,  the  expenses  of  the 
Post  Office  Department  could  be  reduced  by  one  fifth  if 


32 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Why  civic 
duty  ordina- 
rily calls  for 
none  but 
common  vir- 
tues and 
activities. 


How  civic 
duties  must 
take  prece- 
dence of  ordi- 
nary obliga- 
tions. 


Public  spirit 
and  high 
standards 
to-day. 


business  methods  were  used.  A  prominent  politician  declared 
that  he  could  run  our  national  government  for  $300,000,000 
a  year  less  than  was  actually  being  expended.  Even  if  we  do 
not  admit  that  he  could,  we  must  agree  that  we  wish  aJl 
possible  economy  and  efficiency  in  our  governments. 

31.  Civic  Duty.  —  Civic  duty  is  not  necessarily  something 
outside  of  our  everyday  afairs,  nor  does  it  involve  for  most 
of  us  any  but  common  virtues.  Ordinarily  it  does  not 
consist  in  public  display  or  in  prominence  among  men.  It 
is  chiefly  a  matter  of  well-learned  lessons,  of  honest  work, 
of  careful  expenditure,  and  of  upright  living.  Yet  civic  duty 
is  more  than  all  these,  just  as  the  character  of  any  man  or 
woman  is  more  than  the  sum  total  of  all  his  or  her  qualities. 
It  is  marked  by  a  spirit  of  cooperation  and  mutual  helpfulness 
in  pubHc  as  well  as  in  personal  matters. 

There  come  times  when  strict  attention  to  business,  usually 
a  very  high  form  of  civic  duty,  is  pure  selfishness.  The  voter 
who  is  too  engrossed  in  his  own  affairs,  valuable  as  they 
may  be  for  him  and  for  society,  to  vote  at  the  primaries  or  at 
elections,  is  unpatriotic.  The  citizen  who  keeps  silent  when 
right  and  justice  calls  for  his  support  is  to  be  censured  for 
gross  civic  negHgence.  The  man  who  finds  his  first  duty  to 
his  home  and  his  work  when  his  country  demands  his  help 
may  be  guilty  of  treason. 

We  must  be  optimistic  and  help  by  "  boosting  "  rather  than 
by  *'  knocking."  Times  have  changed,  but  not  really  for  the 
worse.  While  temptations  for  the  public  man  exist  now  which 
were  unknown  in  the  more  primitive  days  before  the  Civil 
War,  it  can  truthfully  be  said  that  the  general  standards  of 
pubUc  Hf e  and  morality  are  higher  at  present  than  they  were  in 
the  past.  The  American  civic  conscience  is  far  from  being 
fully  awakened,  but  it  is  more  active  than  it  was  a  few  decades 
ago.  There  is  no  less  honesty  and  integrity  among  public  serv- 
ants than  in  the  days  of  our  fathers ;  while  among  the  common 
people  there  is  more  intelUgence,  less  prejudice,  and  a  deeper 
sympathy  for  the  oppressed.  As  Professor  Moses  so  force- 
fully expressed  it,  **  Humanity  is  marching  steadily  uphill." 


EFFECTS  OF  GOOD   CITIZENSHIP  35 

32.  Patriotism  and  Peace.  —  What  is  patriotism?  What  The  nature 
does  it  include?  It  may  be  defined  as  devotion  to  the  best  ofpatnotism. 
interests  of  one's  country.  It  is  a  thing  of  peace  rather  than 
of  war.  It  is  a  matter  of  everyday  obHgations,  of  honor,  and 
of  uprightness  (§§  27-31)  rather  than  of  crises  and  of  miUtary 
strategy.  Subordination  of  personal  wishes  to  the  general 
welfare  is  necessarily  one  of  its  requirements,  for  the  good  of 
all  is  more  important  than  that  of  any  individual. 

There  is  a  form  of  national  patriotism  which  is  simply  Survivals  of 
a  survival  from  the  late  Middle  Ages,  when  the  king,  becom-  fifteenth  cen- 
ing  absolute,  fought  against  barons  and  dukes,  once  all-  ^^^^ 
powerful.     This  was  a  military,  anti-feudal  patriotism  which 
found  its  expression  in  overthrowing  the  rule  of  the  nobles,  and 
in  warfare  for  the  king.     It  fed  on  race  hatred  and  national 
jealousy.     The  survival  of  that  patriotism  has  helped  in 
recent  years  to  drench  Europe  with  blood. 

In  this  country,  not  many  years  ago,  some  people  placed  National 
allegiance  to  a  state  above  that  to  the  nation.     History  has  patriotism, 

.  T      .  1     1     1         T         ,  .  ^  1  .its  impor- 

smce  decided  that  loyalty  to  a  state  must  yield  to  national  tance  and 
loyalty ;  and,  although  history  is  not  likely  to  decide  soon  that  its  Umita- 
loyalty  to  a  nation  is  below  that  to  a  great  World  State, 
nevertheless  there  is  danger  that  we  may  fail  to  do  what  is 
best  for  our  own  beloved  land,  because  in  our  enthusiasm  we 
make  the  mistake  of  thinking  that  our  country,  whether  right 
or  wrong,  must  be  unswervingly  upheld,  when  no  national 
honor  but  the  rights  of  others  are  involved.  On  the  other 
hand,  care  should  be  taken  not  to  minimize  the  value  of  con- 
stant and  earnest  allegiance  to  the  United  States  and  all  that 
our  flag  represents. 

General  References 

Dole,  The  American  Citizen,  Part  I. 

Baldwin,  The  Relations  of  Education  to  Citizenship. 

King,  Education  for  Social  Efficiency. 

Dewey,  The  School  and  Society. 

Snedden,  The  Problem  of  Vocational  Education^ 

Jenks,  Citizenship  and  the  Schools. 


34  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

Topics 

Vocational  Education:  Howe,  C.  B.,  in  Manual  Training  Maga- 
zine, 14  (1912),  105-114;  Review  of  Reviews,  50  (1914),  195-211; 
Cooley,  E.  G.,  in  Educational  Review,  44  (191 2),  433-450;  Curtis,  J.  W., 
in  Manual  Training  Magazine,  15  (1913),  89-104. 

Student  Government  in  School  :  Welling,  R.,  in  National  Educa- 
tion Association  (1911),  1005-1009;  Kiernan,  ¥.,10.  Craftsman,  26  (1914), 
626-630;  Leupp,  F.  E.,  in  Scrihner's  Magazine,  54  (1913),  388-394; 
Abercrombie,  D.  W.,  in  Education,  33  (1913),  289-299;  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation, 1915,  Bulletin  8:  7-31. 

Studies 

1.  Finding  a  home  for  a  child.     Fearing,  A.,  in  World's  Work,  28 
(1914),  192-197. 

2.  Mothers'  pensions  and  the  home.     Craiger,  S.  M.,  in  Review  of 
Reviews,  52  (1915),  81-84. 

3.  Junior  citizenship  in  the  home.     Hill,  Mabel,  in  Home  Progress,  2 
(1913),  14-20. 

4.  Practical  work  in  school.  Burton,  C.  P.,  in  Technical  World,  21 
(1914),  724-729- 

5.  The  truant  ofl&cer  and  his  work.  Fieser,  J.  L.,  in  Educational 
Review,  43  (191 2),  80-85. 

6.  The  George  Junior  Republic.  Hart  (ed.),  Preventive  Treatment  of 
Neglected  Children,  42-49. 

7.  The  school  and  social  progress.  Dewey,  The  School  and  Society, 
19-44. 

8.  Shaping  education  to  citizenship.  Baldwin,  The  Relations  of 
Education  to  Citizenship,  27-54. 

9.  Training  for  citizenship.  Munroe,  New  Demands  in  Education, 
156-171;  Jenks,  Citizenship  and  the  Schools,  3-37,  75-95. 

10.  How  to  overcome  the  obstacles  to  good  citizenship.  Bryce, 
Hindrances  to  Good  Citizenship,  105-134. 

11.  High  schools  and  civic  development.  Hamilton,  W.  J.,  in 
American  City,  10  (19 14),  58-63. 

12.  Work  of  the  New  York  Bureau  of  Municipal  Research.  Hopkins, 
G.  B.,  in  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  41  (1912),  235-244. 

13.  Business  men's  cooperation  in  city  government.  Bruere,  The 
New  City  Government,  384-400. 

14.  Higher  patriotism.  Hibben,  J.  G.,  in  North  American  Review, 
201  (1915),  702-709. 

Questions 

I.  Show  why  civic  training  must  begin  in  the  home.  Explain  in 
what  ways  the  home  teaches  lessons  in  cooperation  and  in  civic  re- 
sponsibility. 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  CITIZEN  35 

2.  Show  that  obedience  for  a  little  child  means  simply  the  carrying 
out  of  some  injunction  made  by  another  person ;  that  obedience  for  the 
youth  involves  at  least  a  little  thought  and  judgment  on  the  part  of 
the  youth ;  and  that  obedience  in  an  adult  is  usually  a  matter  of  using 
common  sense  and  standing  by  principles. 

3.  Why  should  education  in  the  United  States  be  free  and  pub- 
lic? Why,  then,  doesn't  the  nation  owe  an  education  to  us  as  in- 
dividuals ? 

4.  What  are  the  chief  objects  of  education?  To  what  extent  is 
general  education  necessary?  In  what  degree  does  technical  training 
fail  to  meet  all  of  the  best  requirements  of  civic  education? 

5.  Mention  four  ways  in  which  the  schoolroom  or  the  school  grounds 
give  experience  in  real  citizenship. 

6.  Is  your  school  an  organization  ?  If  so,  does  it  need  any  authority  ? 
Does  it  need  any  rules  and  regulations?  Would  it  be  wise  for  the  prin- 
cipal or  faculty  to  delegate  any  of  their  authority  to  a  student  or  to  the 
student  body,  unless  the  student  or  student  body  knew  how  to  use  that 
authority  right,  and  did  use  it  successfully? 

7.  Under  what  circumstances  or  conditions  might  it  be  advisable, 
for  the  good  of  the  school,  that  some  of  the  authority  or  discipline  exer- 
cised by  the  faculty  should  be  shared  with  the  student  body?  (Con- 
sider experience  and  character  of  students,  willingness  to  accept  full 
responsibility  for  work  assigned  to  them,  ability  to  maintain  the  high 
standards  of  the  school,  etc.) 

8.  Show  how  real  self-government  in  any  high  school  depends  far 
more  on  the  cooperation  of  students  and  faculty  than  it  does  on  the 
forms  of  self-government. 

9.  Is  it  possible  or  desirable  to  have  tests  or  examinations  unsuper- 
vised by  teachers,  unless  (i)  every  student  who  takes  the  test  is  really 
honest,  and  therefore  refrains  from  cheating  or  gaining  help  in  any  way, 
or  unless  (2)  the  class  as  a  whole  assumes  responsibility  for  every  mem- 
ber and  punishes  those  who  cheat  or  try  to  cheat?  Is  any  other  alter- 
native fair  to  the  students  who  try  to  do  the  square  and  honest  thing? 
Discuss  the  problems  suggested  in  questions  9,  10,  and  11. 

10.  How  can  the  best  work  in  history  or  civics  be  done  by  any 
class  unless  every  student  does  absolutely  honest  work?  Show 
that  the  best  methods  cannot  be  used  if  a  student  copies  note- 
book work  which  he  is  supposed  to  do  for  himself,  if  his  outside  reading 
is  done  less  thoroughly  than  he  pretends  that  he  has  done  it,  or  if  he 
gets  an  unfair  amount  of  help  on  written  reports  that  are  presumably 
his  own  work. 

11.  From  the  questions  given  above  is  it  not  clear  that  every  school 
has  a  very  great  amount  of  self-government?  Show  that  every 
student  has  innumerable  opportunities  to  prove  himself  a  good  (school) 
citizen.    Show  that  in  school,  and  probably  in  later  life,  the  truest 


36  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

foundation  of  citizenship  is  character,  and  that  plain  honesty  is  one 
of  the  most  important  elements  of  character. 

12.  Why  is  a  vocation  desirable  for  any  adult  citizen?  Why  does 
any  one  in  business  or  any  one  who  has  any  dealings  with  others  need 
standards  as  well  as  ideals  ?  Discuss  the  problem  of  the  duty  which  an 
employee  has  to  his  employer,  to  society,  and  to  himself.  Is  it  selfish 
to  be  true  to  oneself  first? 

13.  What  is  the  place  taken  in  character  by  self-control,  by  honesty, 
by  knowledge,  by  ability?  What  is  the  difference  between  information, 
knowledge,  and  wisdom? 

14.  Why  must  a  voting  or  active  American  citizen  be  well  informed, 
fair  minded,  and  optimistic  ?  Why  does  duty  to  the  largest  group  which 
has  been  politically  organized  by  the  nation,  Le.  the  nation  itself,  take 
precedence  of  duty  to  the  next  largest  group,  the  state  (commonwealth), 
or  to  numerous  smaller  groups,  social  or  economic? 

15.  Is  it  possible  that  there  is  more  patriotism  to  day  than  there  was 
a  century  and  a  quarter  ago?  Why  do  we  say  that  the  standards  of 
public  morality  are  higher  than  they  were? 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  AMERICAN  NATION 

Geographical  Elements 

33.   Different  Conditions  in  the  Geographical  Areas  of  the  Six  different 
United  States.  —  The  preparation  of  the  citizen  for  his  work  geographical 

.  .  areas. 

as  a  member  of  the  American  nation  would  be  incomplete 
if  he  failed  to  consider  briefly  some  important  American 
conditions  or  neglected  to  make  a  short  study  of  American 
civic  organization,  economic  and  social  as  well  as  political. 
The  American  nation  is  a  complete  society  of  more  than  a 
hundred  million  men,  women,  and  children.  These  people  live 
within  one  of  six  geographical  areas :  (i)  the  Atlantic  slope 
from  the  Alleghany  Mountains  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  (2)  the 
Gulf  slope  (exclusive  of  the  Mississippi  basin),  (3)  the  Missis- 
sippi basin,  (4)  the  Great  Lake  basin,  (5)  the  Cordilleran  or 
Rocky  Mountain  basin,  and  (6)  the  Pacific  slope. 

Each  of  these  geographical  divisions  has  certain  advantages  Geographical 
as  the  home  of  a  people,  but  a  comparison  of  the  populations  advantages 
of  different  areas  shows  very  quickly  that  the  Atlantic  slope,  as  homes, 
the  Great  Lake  basin,  and  the  Mississippi  basin  surpass  all 
others.     They  are  closer  than  the  others  to  the  European  con- 
tinent from  which  the  American  people  or  their  ancestors 
came.     The  first  contains  most  of  the  good  harbors  of  the 
American  coast,  the  second  includes  the  only  large  bodies  of 
water  on  the  American  continent,  and  the  third  comprises 
the  largest  and  finest  river  system  in  the  world,  with  the  pos- 
sible exception  of  the  Amazon  basin.     Moreover,  all  lie  in  the 
central  part  of  the  north  temperate  zone,  the  best  area  for 
homes  to  be  found  anywhere  on  the  globe. 

37 


3S 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Commercial 
centers  on 
Atlantic 
harbors 


Centers  at 
interior  com- 
mercial 
"cross- 
roads." 


Why  com- 
mercial cen- 
ters are  also 
noted  for 
manufac- 
turing. 


34.  Commercial  Areas.  —  If  we  consider  the  distribution 
of  the  people  by  occupation  (§§  40-42),  we  are  impressed  at 
once  by  the  fact  that  about  a  quarter  of  our  people  reside 
within  a  few  great  centers  of  population  and  that  another 
quarter  live  in  about  a  thousand  smaller  cities.  These  people, 
of  course,  are  engaged  in  commerce  or  industry.  The  fine 
harbors  of  the  north  Atlantic  slope  have  brought  together 

large  groups,  en- 
gaged in  trade  with 
Europe  on  the  one 
hand,  or  with  inland 
cities  on  the  other. 
Numerous  railways 
furnish  quick  trans- 
portation from  the 
interior  of  the  con- 
tinent to  the  At- 
lantic coast.  New 
York  was  not  much 
larger  than  Boston 
or  Philadelphia  be- 
fore the  Erie  Canal 
gave  it  more  direct 
commercial  com- 
munication with  the  West.  Later  even  the  railways  could 
not  make  either  of  the  other  cities  equal  to  New  York. 

Second  only  to  the  commercial  population  centers  of  the 
north  Atlantic  coast  are  those  of  the  Great  Lake  basin  and, 
to  a  less  extent,  those  of  the  Mississippi  basin.  For  exam- 
ple, Buffalo,  Detroit,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and  Kansas  City  are 
located  at  commercially  important  crossroads. 

35.  Industrial  Areas.  —  Everywhere  the  exchange  of  com- 
modities is  accompanied  to  some  extent  by  the  manufacture 
of  raw  materials  into  finished  products.  Commercial  cities 
have  rather  exceptional  opportunities  to  reach  materials  and 
markets,  and  there  is  as  much  profit  to  merchants  in  improv- 
ing the  goods  to  be  sold  as  there  is  in  the  sale  of  the  goods 


PROPOSED 
HARBOR 

JAMAICA  BAY 


IMPROVEKEKT 


CourUsy  of  YToelk's  Work. 


GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


39 


themselves.  In  commercial  cities  which  give  employment 
to  heads  of  families  numerous  younger  members  of  families 
are  to  be  found  who  are  free  to  work  in  shops  or  factories. 
In  consequence,  most  commercial  cities  are  also  noted  for  manu- 
facturing. New  York  and  Chicago  are  not  only  our  chief 
commercial  centers ;   they  lead  in  manufactures  as  well. 

Although  manufacturing  and  commerce  go  hand  in  hand,  Dependence 
some  cities  are  more  distinctively  industrial  than  commercial.  ^^  industrial 

-         .       ,  ,  •  1  !•         1  centers  on 

If  a  City  has  access  to  cheap  water  power,  either  directly  or  raw  ma- 
by  electricity,  if  it  is  near  some  raw  material,  as  Minneapolis  terials. 
is  near  fine  wheat  fields  or  Omaha  is  close  to  lands  on  which 


cattle  or  hogs  are  raised,  it  has  advantages  over  all  com- 
petitors and  becomes  a  great  industrial  city.  Even  when 
near-by  supplies  are  partially  exhausted,  if  transportation 
charges  are  reasonable,  the  city  still  leads  in  its  own  line, 
as  Pittsburgh  does  in  the  steel  industries.  Newer  industrial 
cities,  such  as  Birmingham  and  Gary,  are  likely,  however, 
to  be  built  nearer  the  source  of  raw  materials. 

36.   Agricultural  Areas.  —  The  dependence  of  commerce  and  Agricultural 
industry  on  agriculture  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  we  judge  development 
prosperity  far  more  by  the  success  or  failure  of  the  crops  than  bilities^of'the 
we  do  by  the  total  output  of  the  factories  or  by  the  volume  of  Mississippi 
our  foreign  trade. "  Agriculture  in  turn  is  far  more  closely  ^^^^^* 


40 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


dependent  on  nature  than  is  any  other  occupation.  Good 
soil  is  the  first  essential,  but  good  soil  is  of  little  value  without 
the  proper  amount  of  heat  and  moisture.  In  no  other  spot 
on  the  globe  is  there  so  much  rich  arable  land  as  we  have  in 
the  Mississippi  Valley.  Almost  every  variety  of  grain  can  be 
grown  there,  except  on  the  dry  plains  close  to  the  slope  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains.  In  spite  of  the  improvements  wrought 
by  the  beginnings  of  scientific  agriculture,  we  have  not  yet 
begun  to  realize  the  magnificent  possibilities  of  this  great 


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Value  »30m.  to  ?10Om. 

Value  »10Om.  to  J200m 

Value  more  than  !200m. 

^H 

^H 

Extent  of  our 

agricultural 

resources. 


region.  Think  of  the  population  which  these  central  states 
alone  will  support  when  better  conservation  of  water,  greater 
knowledge  of  soils,  more  careful  selection  of  seeds,  and  more 
intensive  cultivation  of  crops  become  the  rule,  not  the  excep- 
tion ! 

Other  arable  land  in  this  country  is  not  to  be  despised. 
From  the  orchards  of  the  stony  New  England  hillsides  to  the 
burning  sands  of  Imperial  Valley  cotton  fields  we  are  using 
not  only  the  bounties  which  nature  has  given  us,  but  we  are 
learning  her  secrets.  If  we  stop  destroying  our  magnificent 
forests,  we  shall  not  lack  agricultural  wealth  of  all  kinds, 


GEOGRAPHY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION 


41 


except  those  which  are  distinctively  tropical,  and  our  soil  will 
continue  to  furnish  us  wealth,  prosperity,  and  opportunities 
for  great  progress. 

37.   Minerals  and  Water  Power.  —  No  other  country  in  Our  exten. 
the  world,  unless  it  be  China,  is  so  fortunate  in  the  possession  ^^^®  mineral 

resources. 

of  valuable  minerals.  Only  by  the  grossest  neglect  or  misuse 
of  our  mineral  deposits  shall  we  fail  to  be  the  richest  nation  on 
the  globe.  In  every  section  and  in  almost  every  state  there 
are  fields  of  coal.     Iron  ore  is  abundant,  although  less  widely 


A  Large  Water  Power  Plant. 


distributed.  Every  year  the  earth  gives  up  large  quantities 
of  silver  and  gold,  copper  and  lead,  petroleum  and  natural  gas. 
Of  most  of  these  the  supply  seems  almost  inexhaustible. 

One  other  resource,  "  white  coal,"  that  is,  our  water  power, 
is  of  constantly  recurring  value.  If  we  can  harness  our 
floods  and  make  much  more  uniform  the  flow  of  waters  in  our 
rivers,  we  shall  gain  an  invaluable  supply  of  power  for  the 
future. 

38.  Geography  and  the  Future  of  the  American  People.  — 
As  the  American  nation  develops  from  an  agricultural  people 
to  an  industrial  society,  as  we  substitute  for  the  simple  life 
of  our  forefathers   the   complex  existence   of   to-day,   the 


Value  of  our 

water 

powers. 


The  problem. 


42 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Need  of  bet- 
ter use  of 
resources  in 
the  future. 


International 
opportuni- 
ties which 
come  from 
our  geo- 
graphical lo- 
cation. 


question  arises,  how  will  the  effect  of  geography  be  different 
to-morrow  from  what  it  was  yesterday  or  what  it  is  to-day  ? 
Because  we  seem  less  dependent  on  the  land,  shall  we 
make  less  important  use  of  the  soil,  the  rivers,  and  the  har- 
bors ;  shall  we  find  less  valuable  the  location  of  our  country  ? 

Certainly  food  supplies  will  not  be  obtained  so  easily  as 
in  the  past,  for  the  amount  of  arable  land  is  limited,  and 
the  time  will  surely  come  when  not  one  hundred  millions  but 
many  times  that  number  will  inhabit  this  country.  That 
would  increase  our  dependence  on  the  soil  rather  than  lessen 
it.  With  increasing  density  of  population  more  careful  use 
must  be  made  of  natural  resources  or  opportunities.  Fields 
that  once  were  despised  must  be  brought  under  cultivation, 
rivers  that  are  navigable  but  a  few  weeks  in  a  year  must 
transport  commodities  from  producer  to  consumer,  and 
harbor  fronts  that  have  been  lined  with  poor  docks  must 
be  replanned  to  accommodate  the  growing  commerce. 

In  relation  to  the  outside  world,  the  destiny  of  America 
is  largely  predetermined  by  the  possession  of  the  fine  Missis- 
sippi basin  and  the  location  of  the  country  in  the  north 
temperate  zone  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  oceans- 
No  other  country  possesses  or  can  possess  equal  advantages 
or  opportunities.  Whether  we  shall  ever  enjoy  fully  the 
eminence  to  which  we  seem  destined  by  nature  depends  very 
much  upon  our  ability  to  work  out  the  larger  problems  of 
social  citizenship;  not  those  of  the  individual  citizen,  but 
those  of  the  American  people  as  a  society.  Our  failure  as  a 
nation  to  gain  and  to  make  use  of  the  three  fundamentals 
of  true  success  —  character,  knowledge,  efficiency  —  alone 
should  prevent  us  from  taking  our  rightful  place  in  the  world 
of  the  future. 


The  People  of  the  United  States 


39.  Population,  Past  and  Present.  —  In  the  history  of 
nations  there  is  no  instance  of  a  growth  of  population  as  rapid 
as  that  which  has  occurred  in  the  United  States.     In  all 


PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES  43 

history  there  is  no  instance  of  such  wholesale  migration  as  Three  great 
has  taken  place  from  Europe  to  America  in  the  last  three  a^^^eve- 

.  TT'  •  •      1      ments  of 

quarters  of  a  century.  History  cannot  pomt  out  a  smgle  growth,  mi- 
example  of  one  people  assimilating  so  rapidly  and  completely  gration,  and 
a  mass  of  immigrants  only  slightly  less  numerous  than  its  own  ^^^^^^  ^^°^* 
population. 

When  the  American  people  in  1776  declared  their  independ-  Rapid 

ence  of  Great  Britain,  they  numbered  but  two  and  a  half  s^^^wth  of 

•11-  rill  r  •  rr-i      -I  American 

millions,  one  of  the  least  populous  of  nations.  To-day  more  population, 
than  one  hundred  million  people  live  in  the  continental  United 
States,  besides  ten  millions  more  in  outlying  possessions. 
From  1700  to  1825,  the  population  doubled  every  quarter  of  a 
century,  with  comparatively  little  immigration.  Since  the 
Civil  War,  even  with  an  average  immigration  of  four  hundred 
thousand  a  year,  the  increase  has  been  much  less  rapid. 

40.  Distribution  of  Population  Geographically.  —  The  Effect  of 
very  uneven  distribution  of  population  in  the  United  States  cUmatic  con- 
is  due  to  natural  causes  and  to  industrial  opportunities,  which 
in  turn  are  dependent  largely  on  natural  conditions.  People 
avoid  those  areas  which  are  unhealthy  or  subject  to  extremes. 
If  the  temperature  of  a  section  is  too  hot  or  too  cold,  if  the 
rainfall  is  excessive  or  very  limited,  if  the  country  is  swampy 
or  mountainous,  the  population  of  that  area  is  relatively 
small.     People  seek  normal  climatic  conditions} 

It  would  seem  as  though  rainfall  did  not  have  a  very  im-  Effect  of 
portant  effect  on  the  distribution  of  population,  except  upon  ramfall  on 

,  ,  .  .      ,  ,  ,  ..  \  •       1         distribution. 

those  engaged  m  agriculture,  but  this  is  apparently  a  mistake. 
More  than  three  fourths  of  all  Americans  live  in  regions  of 
normal  rainfall,  from  30  to  50  inches  annually.  Urban  as 
well  as  rural  populations  find  the  most  healthful  chmate 
where  there  is  a  normal  rainfall,  just  as  farmers  prefer  it 
because  it  gives  better  crops. 

A  comparison  of  the  lines  of  temperature  in  Europe  and  in  Effect  of 
America  discloses  the  fact  that,  although  Europe  is  farther  temperature. 

1  Although  we  find  varying  altitudes  in  the  United  States,  from  a  point  some- 
what below  the  level  of  the  sea  to  5000  feet  above  that  level,  nearly  three  fourths 
of  the  people  live  on  land  that  is  from  100  feet  to  1000  feet  above  sea  level; 
another  one  sixth  reside  in  coast  cities  which  are  less  than  100  feet  above  the  sea. 


44  rHE  NEW  CIVICS 

north,  the  temperatures  are  much  the  same.  Since  we  have 
a  more  distinctively  continental  area,  we  have  a  more  marked 
continental  climate  with  hotter  summers  and  colder  winters 
than  prevail  in  western  or  central  Europe.^ 
Urban  popu-  41.  Distribution  of  Population  Industrially.  —  So  rapidly 
^^°°*  have  American  cities  grown,  especially  during  the  last  half 

century,  that,  although  in  1885  but  one  third  of  our  people 
lived  in  cities,  to-day  more  than  one  half  of  our  population  is 
urban.     In  New  England  only  one  person  in  six  lives  in  the 
country;   in  the  middle  Atlantic  states  three  out  of  every 
four  are  in  cities,  while  in  the  north  central  states  east  of  the 
Mississippi  River  and  on  the  Pacific  coast  considerably  more 
than  half  make  some  city  their  home.     A  comparison  of 
these  data  with  the  commercial  and  industrial  areas  given 
above  (§§  34-35)  shows  that  business  is  the  chief  cause  of 
the  growth  of  cities. 
Distribution        In  spite  of  the  growth  of  cities  more  people  are  engaged 
of  popula-       jn  the  fundamental  business  of  agriculture  than  in  any  other 
patbn^°^^""  profitable  or  lucrative  pursuit.     The  number  equals  more 
than  one  eighth  of  our  total  population  and  nearly  one  third 
.     of  all  workers.     Second   comes   the  number   employed  in 
manufacturing,  transforming  into  finished  products  the  raw 
materials  from  farm  or  mine.     The  percentage  of  those  en- 
gaged in  manufacturing  is  increasing  constantly.     Transporta- 
tion and  trade  need  the  services  of  more  than  six  million 
persons,  nearly  one  sixth  of  the  total.     Almost  as  many  are 
employed  in  clerical,  domestic,  or  personal  service.     In  the 
professions  there  are  nearly  two  million  persons,  more  than 
one  third  of  them  school  teachers. 
Problems  42.   Distribution  of  Population  by  Races.  —  It  is  probably 

growing  out     unnecessary  to  know  whether  the  parents  and  grandparents 
race°dvfsters.  ^^  ^^^  citizen  were  Americans  or  immigrants;   it  is  enough 

^  An  interesting  study  has  been  made  by  a  professor  in  Yale  University  who 
seeks  to  show  the  relation  existing  between  climate  and  civilization.  His  re- 
searches lead  him  to  the  conclusion  that  the  best  physical  work  is  done  at  a 
temperature  of  from  55°  to  65°  and  the  best  mental  work  when  the  outside 
temperature  is  about  45°.  (Huntington  on  civilization  and  climate,  Harper's 
Magazine,  130  (1915),  946.) 


PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 


45 


Definition  of 
term  nation. 


that  the  citizen  is  an  American.  It  is  quite  essential,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  we  know  to  what  extent  the  population  of 
any  state  or  city  is  foreign  rather  than  American.  This 
knowledge  is  demanded  for  the  solution  of  the  problems  of 
unifying  the  nation  and  of  avoiding  difficulties  which  grow 
out  of  radically  different  race  ideals,  standards,  and  methods. 

During  the  late  nineteenth  century  most  of  the  immigrants  Location  of 
settled  on  farms  in  the  Middle  West  or  Northwest,  but  since  immigrants. 
1890  comparatively  few  have  found  work  outside  of  the  cities 
of  the  northeastern  and  north  central  states}  As  a  consequence, 
in  1 9 10,  nearly  85  per  cent  of  the  people  of  foreign  birth 
in  the  United  States  were  in  one  of  those  two  groups  of 
states.2  We  find  further  that  three  states,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  have  absorbed  more  than  half  of  the 
total  number  of  immigrants  who  have  come  to  the  United 
States  since  the  beginning  of  the  present  century.^ 

43.  Original  Racial  Elements.  —  Let  us  examine  some  of 
the  older  and  newer  racial  elements  which  make  up  the 
American  nation,  after  we  have  noted  the  meaning  of  the  term 
^'  nation."    A  nation  is  a  great  group  of  people,  hving  under  a 

^  One  is  impressed  at  once  by  the  connection  that  must  exist  between  the  new 
American  and  the  cities.  It  cannot  be  an  accident  that  the  commercial  and 
industrial  centers  have  attracted  foreigners  and  that  many  distinctively  rural 
states  have  a  very  large  native  population.  From  that  point  of  view  our  large 
cities  are  the  least "  American  "  of  our  communities.  For  example,  in  Manhattan 
borough,  New  York  City,  less  than  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  people  are  native 
whites  both  of  whose  parents  were  bom  in  America.  In  Greater  New  York 
and  Chicago  the  percentage  of  these  older  Americans  is  only  twenty.  That  is, 
only  one  person  in  five  in  each  of  our  two  largest  cities  is  descended  from  people 
who  lived  in  America  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 

2  The  only  states  that  have  fewer  than  ten  per  cent  of  their  population  of 
foreign  birth  or  foreign  parentage  are  south  of  the  Potomac  and  Ohio  rivers 
and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  exception  of  Arkansas.  On  the  contrary, 
these  states  and  two  or  three  others  have  a  negro  population  of  from  thirty-five 
to  fifty-five  per  cent. 

2  In  five  of  the  original  thirteen  states  more  than  sixty  per  cent  of  the  people 
are  foreign  born  or  of  foreign  parentage.  These  states,  in  which  the  Puritans 
and  other  early  settlers  have  been  outnumbered,  extend  from  Massachusetts  to 
New  Jersey.  In  one  of  them,  Rhode  Island,  the  people  of  native  parentage  are 
exceeded  in  numbers  not  only  by  those  native-bom  Americans  of  foreign  par- 
entage but  by  foreigners  as  well.  Another  area  in  which  the  inhabitants  of 
native  parentage  form  less  than  forty  per  cent  of  the  population  extends  from 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  to  the  eastern  borders  of  Montana. 


46 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


People  of 
English  race 
in  early 
America. 


Non-Eng- 
lish elements 
in  early 
America. 


Formation 
of  the  Ameri' 
can  race  in 
the  West. 


single  government  and  independent  of  all  other  peoples,  who 
have  the  same  ideas  regarding  all  fundamental  questions. 
It  is  usually  made  up  of  peoples  of  different  races  and  origins, 
and  they  form  a  nation  only  when  they  are  merged  into  a 
united  society. 

We  sometimes  hear  the  American  people  called  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  race.  The  reason,  of  course,  is  that  English  ideas 
and  people  of  English  blood  predominated  during  colonial 
times  and  the  early  national  period.  Even  assuming  that 
the  English  people  are  ^'  Anglo-Saxon,"  a  proposition  denied 
by  many  authorities,  should  the  name  be  applied  to  Ameri- 
cans ?  A  sUght  examination  of  the  racial  elements  that  have 
made  up  our  population  in  our  early  history  and  in  recent 
years  gives  us  a  very  decisive  answer.  The  American  nation 
is  not  Anglo-Saxon  in  any  real  sense. 

Our  ancestors  who  fought  the  Revolutionary  War  were 
chiefly  descendants  of  Englishmen  that  had  emigrated  to  the 
American  colonies  during  the  seventeenth  century.  But 
in  1776  about  one  quarter  of  the  total  white  population  of  the 
United  States  was  not  English  at  all.  The  Scotch  Irish 
Americans  of  that  period  outnumbered  all  other  European 
whites,  their  ancestors  having  come  from  the  British  Isles  after 
1700.  There  were  a  number  of  French  Huguenots,  descend- 
ants of  early  Dutch  and  Swedish  settlers,  and  many  Germans. 
Nearly  one  quarter  of  the  people  were  negro  slaves. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when 
people  from  the  Atlantic  slope  poured  into  the  Mississippi 
Valley  and  each  western  state  united  people  from  several 
eastern  states,  there  was  formed  t]ie,  first  really  American  race. 
These  people  were  not  colonials,  nor  were  they  provincial  in 
their  ideas;  they  were  Americans.  Lowell  well  calls  Lin- 
coln the  greatest  of  this  t3^e : 

The  kindly-earnest,  brave,  foreseeing  man, 
Sagacious,  patient,  dreading  praise,  not  blame, 
New  birth  of  our  new  soil,  the  first  American. 

44.  Early  Nineteenth  Century  Immigration.  —  Cheap  land, 
manhood  suffrage,  and  comparative  social  equality  in  the 


PEOPLE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


47 


1,300,000 

~ 

~ 

~ 

~1 

~ 

"1 

~ 

~ 

- 

~ 

~ 

- 

~ 

— 

— 

\ 

1.200,000 

1,100,000 

1 

/ 

i 

1,000,000 

! 

900,000 

1  ' 

\ 

800,000 

1 

' 

( 

,1 

.700,000 

/ 

' 

1 

y 

600,000 

\ 

\ 

600,000 

1 

/ 

/ 

V 

'400,000 

A 

\ 

\ 

1 

\ 

600,000 

\ 

/ 

;^ 

1 

>. 

200,000 

\ 

100,000 

V 

1864   187.0 


1910 


United  States  proved  great  attractions  to  Europeans  during 

the  nineteenth  century.^    The  first  great  migration  did  not 

begin,  however,  until  conditions  in  Europe  made  emigration 

desirable.     In  other  words,  the  expelling  forces  of  Europe 

were  a  more  important 

cause  of  migration  than 

were  the  impelling  forces 

of    America.      In    1845 

and    for   several    years 

subsequent    the    potato 

crop   failed  in  Ireland. 

As   this   had    been   the 

chief  food  of  the  people, 

large      numbers      were 

forced     to     leave     the 

island.     Naturally  they 

came  to  America.    There 

were  only  a  quarter  of  a 

million  Irish  immigrants 

from  1820  to  1840,  but  the  total  number  rose  to  more  than 

three  milhons  in  the  next  haK  century. 

In  1848  the  revolutions  in  central  Europe  failed.  There- 
after multitudes  of  young  German  liberals,  subject  to  arrest 
at  home  or  hopeless  of  democracy  in  their  own  country, 
flocked  to  America.  In  the  five  decades  from  1848  to  1898 
more  than  four  and  a  half  million  Germans  found  their 
way  to  America.  In  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury more  than  three  million  and  a  half  Englishmen  and 
Canadians  migrated  to  the  United  States.  Since  1865, 
nearly  as  many  Scandinavians  have  come  to  our  shores. 
Thus  in  a  little  more  than  fifty  years  four  nations  sent  us 
more  white  people  than  we  had  in  the  whole  United  States 
in  1840. 

^  In  few  localities  excepting  the  mountain  districts  of  the  South  do  the 
descendants  of  the  earliest  settlers  constitute  the  whole  population.  In  the 
Southern  states  far  more  than  in  any  other  section  the  people  of  to-day  are 
predominantly  of  colonial  descent,  for  immigration  has  not  greatly  aflFected  the 
South. 


1880         1890         1900 
IMMIGRATION 
(1864-1914J 


Immigration 
from  Ireland 
after  the  po- 
tato famines 
of  1845-1848 


Immigration 
from  Ger- 
many and 
Scandinavia. 


48 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Extensive 
immigration 
from  south- 
ern and  east- 
ern Europe. 


45.  Recent  Immigration.  —  By  1890,  the  old  immigration 
from  western,  central,  and  northern  Europe  had  declined 
greatly,  but  from  southern  and  eastern  Europe  came  still 
larger  numbers,  especially  Italians,  Austrians,  and  Russians. 
In  1907,  the  total  reached  1,285,349.  That  is,  at  the  close  of 
that  year,  about  one  person  in  eighty  within  the  United  States 
was  a  newly  arrived  immigrant.  By  1916,  the  number  of 
Austro-Hungarian  immigrants  exceeded  the  total  immigra- 
tion from  Ireland,  that  of  Italy  was  little  less  than  the  number 


BORN  IN  SPECIFIED  COUNTRY 

NATIVE-BOTH   PARENTS  BORN  IN  SPECIFIED  COUNTRY 

NATIVE-ONE  PARENT  BORN   IN  SPECIFIED  COUNTRY,  OTHEB  (N 
UNITED    STATES 


Foreign  White  Stock  by  Principal  Countries  of  Origin,  1910. 


Results  of 
recent  im- 
migration. 


from  Germany,  and  that  from  Russia  almost  equaled  the 
nineteenth  century  exodus  of  Englishmen  and  Canadians  to 
the  United  States. 

Into  the  causes  of  recent  immigration  we  will  not  have  time 
to  inquire.  We  must,  however,  notice  the  fact  that  illiteracy 
has  been  much  more  common  among  these  recent  immigrants 
than  it  was  among  their  nineteenth  century  predecessors  from 
central  and  northern  Europe.  Recent  arrivals  have  been 
neither  Celtic  nor  Teutonic,  as  were  the  early  settlers  in  this 
country  and  the  immigrants  until  about  a  quarter  century 
ago.  They  have  lower  standards  of  living,  practically  no 
experience  in  self-government,  and  probably  less  capacity  for 
self-government  than  the  earlier  immigrants.  Where  they 
are  birds  of  passage,  coming  for  a  season  to  return  with  their 
savings,  they  add  little  and  subtract  much  from  American 


RACIAL  PROBLEMS 


49 


welfare.     If  they  remain,  they  usually  prove  desirable  citi- 
zens, if  they  become  citizens,  which  many  of  them  do  not. 

Racial  Problems 

46.  Economic  Effects  of  Immigration.  —  Nearly  twenty- 
two  million  immigrants  came  to  America  from  1848  to  191 9. 
As  the  proportion  of  men  is  larger  among  immigrants  than 
in  any  ordinary  population,  immigration  has  added  greatly 
to  the  supply  of  labor,  especially  of  unskilled  labor,  in  the 
United  States.  Having  settled  in  comparatively  few  locali- 
ties, the  immigrants  have  caused  an  oversupply  of  labor  in 
the  northeastern  states.  Undoubtedly  they  have  displaced  a 
large  amount  of  American  labor.  Some  of  the  displaced 
workers  have  been  forced  upward  into  occupations  requiring 
more  skill  and  intelligence,  some  have  been  forced  to  toil  in 
competition  with  newly  arrived  immigrants  at  a  lower  wage 
than  formerly,  and  some  have  been  forced  out  altogether 
into  the  ranks  of  the  unemployed. 

Undoubtedly  we  have  needed  a  large  part  of  this  supply  of 
labor.  Crude  construction  work  would  have  been  completed 
more  slowly  but  for  cheap  foreign  labor.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated that  every  able-bodied  foreign  workman  who  has  come 
into  the  United  States  has  been  worth  at  least  one  thousand 
dollars  to  us,  but  immigration  has  '.ncreased  unemployment, 
and  it  has  lowered  both  wages  and  standards  of  living. 

Problems  have  recently  arisen  because  most  of  the  immi- 
grants have  had  no  experience  in  self-government  and  belong 
to  different  racial  stocks  from  the  Americans  who  founded 
our  republic.  Unscrupulous  politicians  have  gained  control 
over  large  groups  of  ignorant,  easily  led  foreigners.  Such 
abuses  are  now  prevented  by  better  immigration  laws, 
and  by  stricter  administration  of  the  process  of  naturaliza- 
tion. If  a  foreigner  wishes  to  become  an  American  citizen, 
he  must  first  declare  his  intention  of  doing  so  before  a  federal 
or  state  court  which  keeps  records.  If  he  has  resided  in 
the  United  States  a  period  of  five  years,  and  is  at  least  eighteen 
years  of  age,  he  may  then  go  to  a  similar  court  of  record  and 


Displace- 
ment of  labor 
by  immi- 
grants. 


Need  of 
crude  labor 
in  the  United 
States. 


Political 
results  and 
process  of 
naturaliza- 
tion. 


so 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Immigration 
and  crime. 


Pauperism 
among  im- 
migrants. 


Illiteracy 
among  im- 
migrants. 


History  and 
present  laws. 


get  his  papers,  as  already  explained  (page  4,  n.  i).  He  must 
make  his  application  at  least  ninety  days  before  his  papers 
are  granted  him,  but  cannot  receive  them  within  thirty 
days  before  an  election.  Great  care  is  exercised  to  see  that 
he  will  be  a  desirable  citizen. 

47.  Some  Social  Effects  of  Immigration.  —  In  spite  of 
laws  which  have  sought  to  limit  the  immigration  of  those 
who  might  become  public  charges,  we  find  that  immigration 
has  added  to  the  amount  of  crime,  poverty,  insanity,  and  illit- 
eracy in  the  United  States.  We  learn,  for  example,  that  al- 
though persons  of  foreign  birth  or  foreign  parentage  number 
only  one  third  of  the  total  population,  less  than  one  half  of 
the  crimes  traceable  to  white  persons  are  committed  by 
native-born  Americans. 

The  figures  for  poverty  are  more  startling.  In  1890,  for 
example,  although  only  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  American 
people  were  foreign  born,  immigrants  formed  forty  per  cent 
of  the  paupers  receiving  public  aid.  When  we  consider 
that  many  of  these  paupers  are  also  insane  and  that  the  cost 
of  caring  for  the  foreign  insane  and  paupers  in  the  single 
state  of  New  York  amounts  to  more  than  $20,000,000  a 
year,  we  can  see  how  great  a  burden  has  been  placed  upon 
the  American  people  by  the  migration  of  these  misfit  or 
unfit  members  of  society. 

Among  native  white  people  of  the  United  States  there  is 
much  less  illiteracy  to-day  than  there  was  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  ilhteracy  is  low- 
est among  the  native  white  people  of  foreign  parentage. 
Only  about  one  per  cent  of  the  children  of  immigrants  over 
ten  years  of  age  are  unable  to  read  or  write.  On  the  con- 
trary, so  many  illiterate  immigrants  have  come  to  America 
during  the  last  twenty-five  years  that  nearly  thirteen  per  cent 
of  the  foreign  born  white  people  are  unable  to  read. 

48.  Restriction  of  Immigration.  —  In  1864,  Congress  cre- 
ated the  office  of  immigration  commissioner,  for  the  purpose 
of  looking  after  immigrants.  It  was  not  until  1882,  however, 
that  any  law  was  made  for  the  exclusion  of  foreigners.     Since 


RACIAL  PROBLEMS 


51 


that  year  convicts,  idiots,  and  persons  likely  to  become 
public  charges  have  been  excluded.  In  1884,  Congress  for- 
bade the  admission  of  aliens  who  had  contracted  to  work 
in  competition  with  American  labor.  In  the  Hst  of  undesir- 
ables Congress  more  recently  included  anarchists,  convicts, 
and  those  with  contagious  diseases,  including  tuberculosis.^ 


II. 

! r»-fi 

^  mm.%                 ,; 

I; 

^                                1' 

I 

©  Underwood  and  Underwood. 
Examining  the  Eyes  of  Immigrants. 


It  has  been  suggested  that  we  should  exclude  large  classes 
of  those  who  are  ignorant,  unskilled,  or  undesirable,  because 
they  maintain  a  low,  un-American  standard  of  living.  An 
Immigration  Commission  published  four  large  volumes  of 
evidence  which  it  gathered  on  this  subject.  Based  to  some 
extent  on  its  recommendations,  efforts  have  been  made  to 
limit  immigration,  chiefly  through  the  use  of  a  Hteracy  test. 

^  If  a  steamship  line  brings  one  of  these  forbidden  aliens  to  our  shores,  it  is 
required  to  give  that  person  return  passage.  This  law,  helps  to  account  for  the 
fact  that  the  number  of  excluded  ahens  has  never  risen  above  one  per  cent  of 
those  seeking  admission  to  the  coimtry. 


Proposed 
further  re 
striction. 


5^ 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Need  of 
homogeneity 
and  national 
ideals  and 
ideas. 


Ways  in 
which  racial 
homogeneity 
may  be  ob- 
tained. 


Illiterates  above  the  age  of  sixteen,  except  wives  or  depend- 
ent parents  of  immigrants,  are  excluded  by  the  law  of  1917.^ 

49.  Immigration  and  Homogeneity.  —  The  racial  diver- 
sity of  the  American  people  is  not  an  undesirable  character- 
istic. If  we  study  history,  including  that  of  our  own  coun- 
try, we  find  that  mixed  races  are  usually  the  best  if  the  races 
that  have  intermarried  were  much  alike}  While  we  do  not 
want  and  cannot  afford  to  have  race  clusters  in  our  midst, 
we  do  not  want  uniformity  so  much  as  we  need  homogeneity. 
We  do  not  want  all  people  to  be  alike  or  to  think  alike,  but 
we  must  not  have  radically  different  ideas  and  standards,  if 
those  standards  or  ideals  affect  civic  development. 

Aside  from  the  negro  problem,  race  problems  may  be 
avoided  or  solved  in  one  of  two  ways,  (i)  We  may  avoid 
them  by  prohibiting  or  limiting  the  immigration  of  persons 
of  any  race  who  do  not  care  to  become  Americans  or  who 
cannot  adopt  American  ways,  accept  American  standards  of 
living,  and  become  Americans.  (2)  We  may  solve  them  by 
extending  to  foreigners,  soon  after  their  arrival  in  America, 
American  rights  and  privileges  which  they  will  desire  and 
prize.  In  this  way  we  may  avoid  the  formation  of  true  race 
clusters.  Yet  we  must  see  that  the  rights  and  privileges  are 
earned  and  appreciated  in  order  that  American  citizenship 

1  The  subject  of  oriental  immigration  is  important  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
not  because  of  the  numbers  of  Chinese  or  Japanese,  but  because  of  their  low 
standard  of  living,  their  extraordinary  industry,  and  the  difference  between  the 
oriental  mind  and  temperament  and  that  of  the  average  American.  The  compe- 
tition of  Chinese  on  the  Pacific  coast  during  the  '70's  was  such  that  riots  occurred 
in  Los  Angeles  and  the  Sandlot  riots  took  place  in  San  Francisco.  Between 
1882  and  1894,  Congress  passed  a  series  of  laws  excluding  Chinese  coolies,  and 
providing  for  drastic  means  of  enforcing  these  regulations.  Since  the  opening 
of  the  twentieth  century,  the  competition  of  Japanese  laborers  in  California 
has  produced  agitation  against  the  ownership  of  land  by  Japanese.  A  "gentle- 
men's agreement,"  arranged  by  Secretary  Root  and  the  Japanese  govern- 
ment, has  stopped  the  immigration  of  Japanese  coolies  to  the  United  States. 
The  problem  is  a  racial  issue  quite  as  much  as  an  economic  problem. 

2  We  find  also  that  the  civilization  of  the  mixed  races  and  of  the  peoples  who 
lived  on  the  highways  between  well-developed  civilizations  which  were  more  or 
less  alike  were  often  better  than  more  isolated  civilizations.  With  all  its  faults 
humanity  is  looking  for  new  and  better  ways  of  living  and  thinking.  The  com- 
ing together  of  two  civilizations  not  too  dissimilar  has  given  opportunity  to 
take  at  least  some  of  the  best  in  each. 


RACIAL  PROBLEMS  53 

shall  not  be  cheapened,  in  order  that  the  real  Americaniza- 
tion of  the  immigrant  shall  not  be  delayed. 

Real  assimilation  must  be  social.     So  long  as  we  had  abun-  old  methods 
dant  farm  land,  it  was  easy  to  make  the  immigrant  identify  ^!  assimila- 

,    .  1  r  •    1  1  1  1  r     1    •  1  •  rm  •  i  tlOIl   thrOUgh 

himself  with  the  land  of  his  adoption.     That  is  no  longer  cheap  land 

possible  in  the  same  way.     We  must  depend  on  education,  must  be  re- 

especially  on  free  public  schools  which  make  no  distinction  g^ucltion 

of  persons ;  on  business,  which  makes  the  immigrant  a  useful,  and  by  busi- 

necessary  worker  and  consumer  in  the  community;  and  on  ^^ssand 

^opifil  inter" 

social  intercourse.  The  immigrant  may  not  understand  us  course.  * 
very  well  and  may  learn  our  language  imperfectly,  but  he 
should  be  compelled  to  use  it  rather  than  his  native  tongue. 
Certainly  it  is  our  fault  as  well  as  his  if  his  children  are 
foreigners  rather  than  Americans.  We  need  not  fear  for 
the  racial  future  of  our  country  so  long  as  the  child  of  Euro- 
pean parents  loves  the  flag,  longs  to  become  a  voter,  and 
boasts  of  the  fact  that  he  is  an  American.  Such  a  course 
of  action  is  good  for  him ;  it  is  not  less  good  for  us. 

In  these  days  of  unrest  we  need  a  great  deal  of  American-  Problems 
ization.  The  problem  is  especially  complex  with  the  adult  of  Amen- 
immigrants;  but  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  also  with  their 
children,  and  with  the  second  generation.  It  is  a  problem, 
however,  not  chiefly  for  immigrants  but  for  all ;  for  none  of 
us  know  too  well  the  meaning  and  the  importance  of  American 
ideals,  past  and  present.  We  must  find  those  forms  of  civic 
organization  which  permit  the  greatest  initiative  and  per- 
sonal independence.  We  must  work  out  practical  schemes 
of  cooperation,  self-control,  and  self -direction.  The  best  of 
America  must  be  studied  and  developed  and  kept,  in  order 
that  America's  future  may  be  safe. 

General  References 

Ellwood,  Sociology  and  Modern  Social  Problems. 
Bullock,  Introduction  to  Study  of  Economics,  11-29. 
Wright,  Practical  Sociology,  Chaps.  II-IV,  VII,  VIII. 
Commons,  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  1-38,  63-106. 
Hall,  Immigration,  3-198. 
Ross,  The  Old  World  in  the  New, 


54  THE  NEW   CIVICS 

Hamilton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems,  IX. 
Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.).  Materials  for  the  Sttidy  of  Elemen- 
tary Economics,  58-156. 

Topics 

The  Port  of  New  York,  and  Jamaica  Bay  Improvement: 
Scientific  American,  103  (1910),  9 ;  Eaton,  W.  P.,  in  Scrihner^s  Magazine, 
49  (1911),  129-141;  Brinton,  W.  C,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  49  (1914), 
577-586 ;  Ramage,  B.  J.,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  49  (1914),  449-461. 

Economic  Effects  of  Immigration  :  Mayo-Smith,  Emigration  and 
Immigration,  gs-146;  Hsdl,  Immigration,  1 21-138;  Fa.irch.\\d,  Immigra- 
tion, 213-273;  Jenks  and  Lauck,  The  Immigration  Problem,  135-197; 
Hourwich,  Immigration  and  Labor,  284-317;  Wolfe,  Readings  in  Social 
Problems,  264-321. 

Social  Results  of  Immigration:  Mayo-Smith,  Emigration  and 
Immigration,  147-167;  Wolfe,  Readings  in  Social  Problems,  330-371; 
Hall,  Immigration,  139-182;   Ross,  The  Old  World  in  the  NeWj  228-256. 

Studies 

1.  Geography  of  the  United  States  (with  especial  reference  to  early 
colonization).     Ashley,  American  History,  2-11. 

2.  Where  people  live.     Wright,  Practical  Sociology,  26-32. 

3.  Climatic  conditions  which  are  most  favorable  to  thought  and  the 
development  of  civilization.  Huntington,  E.,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  130 
(1915),  233-244,  367-373,  943-951. 

4.  Pittsburgh  as  a  steel  center.  Hungerford,  Personality  of  Ameri- 
can Cities,  1 71-184. 

5.  Wheat  raising  in  a  western  state.  Welliver,  J.  C,  in  Technical 
World,  17  (1912),  124-136. 

6.  Our  coal  resources.  Mitchell,  G.  E.,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  41 
(1910),  193-204. 

7.  Our  recent  immigrants.    Wame,  The  Immigrant  Invasion,  53-67, 

20<>-2l8. 

8.  Geographical  distribution  of  immigrants.  Wame,  The  Immigrant 
Invasion,  68-89,  1 13-126. 

9.  The  Scotch  Irish  in  America.  Ford,  The  Scotch  Irish  in  America, 
520-540. 

10.  The  Germans.     Ross,  The  Old  World  in  the  New,  46-66. 

11.  The  Scandinavians.  Babcock,  The  Scandinavian  Element  in  the 
United  States,  66-105. 

12.  The  Irish-American  as  a  citizen.  Smith,  J.,  in  New  England 
Magazine,  47  (1912),  257-273. 

13.  The  Italians  in  this  country.  Ross,  The  Old  World  in  the  New, 
95-119- 


RACIAL  PROBLEMS  55 

14.  New  Slav  citizens.     Ross,  The  Old  World  in  the  New,  120-140. 

15.  Hebrews  from  eastern  Europe.     Ross,  The  Old  World  in  the  New, 
143-167. 

Questions 

1.  Name  the  three  most  important  geographical  divisions  in  the 
United  States,  giving  distinguishing  characteristics  of  each.  Under 
what  conditions  of  altitude,  rainfall,  and  temperature  do  most  of  the 
American  people  live  ? 

2.  Why  are  part  of  the  North  Atlantic  coast  and  a  strip  across  the 
Great  Lake  basin  our  most  important  commercial  areas?  Why  are  they 
also  very  important  industrial  areas?  (On  the  last  question  consider 
facilities  for  transportation,  surplus  capital,  surplus  supply  of  labor,  etc.) 

3.  Draw  a  map  showing  the  different  important  agricultural  areas. 
Locate  on  the  same  map  deposits  of  the  four  most  important  minerals. 

4.  Show  how  geography  (natural  resources)  affects  our  wealth  and 
prosperity.  Show  how  geography  (location)  affects  our  future  position 
among  nations. 

5.  Copy  in  your  notebook  the  diagram  given  on  page  48.  If 
less  than  half  of  our  present  population  is  English,  does  that  make  it 
impossible  to  have  a  successful  representative  Republic?  What  per- 
centage of  our  white  population  came  from  other  countries  than  Great 
Britain  and  Ireland,  Germany,  and  Scandinavia? 

6.  Should  immigration  be  restricted  much  more  radically  than  at 
present?  If  so,  by  what  means  and  to  what  extent?  What  are  the 
most  important  objections  to  immigration;  economic  objections,  social 
evils,  political  dangers? 

7.  Investigate  the  racial  composition  of  your  state  and  of  your  city. 
How  rapidly  has  the  population  grown  and  how  much  has  it  changed  in 
the  last  20  years?  in  the  last  50  years?  (Consider  races  and  percentage 
of  city  population.  Use  Statistical  Abstract,  Abstract  of  Census,  or 
World  Almanac.) 

8.  Was  it  easier  to  perform  all  one's  civic  duties  a  century  ago  than 
it  is  to-day  ?  Why  is  it  worth  more  to  do  so  to-day  ?  What  difference 
does  it  make  in  our  scheme  of  government  and  society  that  most  men 
have  become  employees  and  renters,  instead  of  being  independent  workers 
and  owners? 

9.  Is  economic  equality  necessarily  a  characteristic  of  the  best  and 
highest  form  of  business  organization  ?  How  may  the  disappearance  of 
economic  equality  affect  political  equality  and  the  rule  of  the  whole 
people?  If  democracy  cannot  solve  those  problems  which  less  popular 
governments  in  other  nations  are  solving,  must  we  modify  our  form  of 
government?  If  a  method  used  by  a  popular  government,  after  a  fair 
and  a  long  trial,  proves  a  failure,  should  it  not  be  abandoned  for  a  better 
method,  even  though  the  latter  is  less  democratic? 


CHAPTER  IV 


CIVIC  ORGANIZATION 


Social  Organization 


The  first 
need  of 
organization. 


Integration 
and  differ- 
entiation. 


50.  Rudimentary  and  Complex  Organizations.  —  As  we 
noticed  in  the  first  chapter,  organization  grows  out  of  needs. 
If  needs  are  few  and  simple,  organization  is  correspondingly 
simple.  If  the  group  is  large,  and  if  its  needs  are  exceed- 
ingly numerous  and  varied,  its  organization  should  be  cor- 
respondingly complex.  Otherwise  the  first  object  of  organi- 
zation, that  is,  adaptation  of  structure  to  function^  is  not  met. 

In  the  physical  world  and  in  the  social  world  we  find 
small,  undeveloped  organisms  ^  and  organizations.  In  prim- 
itive times  the  patriarch  made  such  rules  as  were  neces- 
sary, enforced  them,  and  acted  as  judge ;  this  is  a  rudimentary 
form,  all  the  work  being  done  by  a  government  without  organ- 
ization. In  higher  forms  of  life  and  in  better  governments 
we  find  that  new  needs  develop  new  organs :  in  an  animal,  the 
eye  to  see,  the  hand  to  grasp,  and  the  heart  to  pump  blood ; 
for  each  government,  a  law-making  body,  a  group  of  execu- 
tive ofiicials,  and  a  set  of  judges.  This  process  of  develop- 
ing or  setting  aside  one  organ  for  its  work  is  called  differen- 
tiation.^ It  is  the  first  step  in  the  development  of  an  organ- 
ism or  organization. 

For  the  organism  or  organization,  it  is  of  little  value  to 
have  many  organs  unless  they  work  together  for  the  good  of 


1  The  unicellular  animal  such  as  the  amoeba  uses  part  of  its  jellylike  flesh  to 
eat  its  food  by  surrounding  it,  and  it  moves  by  extending  part  of  its  protoplasm 
in  the  direction  in  which  it  wishes  to  go. 

^Integration  must  really  precede  and  accompany  dififerentiation.  See  Gid- 
dings,  The  Elements  of  Sociology,  pp.  336-337. 

56 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  57 

the  whole  organism.     Too  much  differentiation  may  pre-  importance 
vent  the  development  of  the  organism  rather  than  help  it.   ^/  coordina- 
For  an  organism  to  have  fifty  arms  would  not  increase  its  ation,^and^ef- 
usefulness ;   it  would  be  kept  from  using  its  strength  in  the   ficiency. 
development    of    other    necessary   organs.     Moreover,    the 
arms  would  be  in  one  another's  way.     Along  with  differen- 
tiation, then,  must  go  coordination,  since  the  different  organs 
must  work  together  in  harmony  for  the  good  of  the  organism 
or  organization  which  they  serve.     Perfection  of  organization 
is  not  to  be  measured  by  great  size,  for  a  small  organization 
which  will  do  the  work  of  a  large  one  is  correspondingly 
better  organized ;  it  has  more  efficiency.     In  short,  a  good  or- 
ganization will  be  well  differentiated,  the  structure  will  be 
perfectly  adapted  to  function,  and  the  parts  will  work  to- 
gether in  perfect  coordination  so  that   the  organization  is 
efficient. 

51,   Social  Development  through  Individual  and  Collective   Mankind's 
Development.  —  The  development  of  a  special  organization   conquest  of 

u  J  •      u      A^      J  rv  ^1  -^      Itself  and 

may  be  measured  agam  by  the  degree  of  its  control  over  its  of  nature, 
environment.  The  history  of  civilization  is  the  story  of 
mankind's  conquest  of  nature  and  of  itself.^  From  a  con- 
dition of  barbarism,  in  which  hunger  and  passions  led  to 
foraging  expeditions,  constant  warfare,  and  murder,  man 
has  advanced  until  he  has  brought  many  animals  and  natural 
forces  under  his  control.  Through  laws,  customs,  and 
government  he  has  made  it  possible  for  immense  numbers 
of  people  to  live  together  without  cutting  one  another's 
throats  at  the  first  pretext. 

In  so  far  as  we  have  developed  our  intellects  and  have  Ways  in 
aroused  our  moral  natures,  in  other  words,  have  gained  con-  ^^^^  "^jj" 

1  T  T'i»»i"«iii  rr-\       1        izecl  man  Has 

trol  over  ourselves,  we  are  developing  individually.     To  the  developed, 
extent  to  which  we  have  made  the  winds,  the  soil,  the  mineral 
rocks,  steam,  and  electricity  our  servants,  we  have,  per- 
sonally and  collectively,  become  civilized  and  freer  from  our 
environment.     That  we  have  become  more  dependent  on 

1  Modem  warfare  is  an  instance  of  a  survival  of  barbarism  in  a  civilized 
society. 


58 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Giddings's 
definition  of 
social  or- 
ganization. 


Need  of 
unity,  "like- 
minded- 
ness,"  and 
solidarity  in 
any  true  so- 
cial organ- 
ization. 


Economic, 
political,  and 
social  groups. 


others  shows  simply  that  we  are  but  differentiated  parts  of 
a  highly  organized  society. 

62.  The  Character  of  Social  Organization.  — ''  Many  of 
the  activities  in  which  individuals  combine  their  efforts  are 
continued  or  repeated  until  they  become  habitual;  and 
the  cooperating  individuals  in  these  cases  sustain  relatively 
permanent  relations  to  one  another.  Habitual  relations  of 
the  members  of  a  society  to  one  another,  and  persistent 
Jorms  of  cooperative  activity,  collectively,  are  called  the  Social 
Organization."  ^  As  used  in  this  statement  social  organi- 
zation includes  political  and  economic  organization  as  well  as 
those  permanent  relations  and  activities  which  we  may 
term  distinctively  social. 

It  is  evident  from  Professor  Giddings's  statement  that 
social  organization  in  any  real  sense  can  exist  only  in  a  well- 
developed  society.  '  A  group  of  persons  who  have  come  to- 
gether for  a  temporary  object  is  never  really  organized. 
The  members  of  the  group  must  have  ''  grown  together  " 
by  association  for  many  generations.  They  must  have 
believed  in  much  the  same  ideas,  must  have  practiced  the 
same  ways  of  doing  things,  must  have  fought  common  ene- 
mies for  a  common  end,  must  have  developed  a  really  united 
group  with  which  each  member  was  closely  identified.  This 
"  like-mindedness  "  ^  leads  not  only  to  the  organization  of 
the  large  group,  possibly  a  nation,  but  to  the  organization 
of  smaller  groups  which  make  up  the  nation,  e.g.  states  and 
communities,  agricultural  or  industrial  groups,  families  and 
religious  bodies.  When  a  group  really  develops  like-minded- 
ness, it  possesses  a  solidarity  which  makes  it  a  unit.  It  may 
then  be  said  that  it  is  really  organized. 

63.  Forms  of  Association.  —  By  forms  of  association  we 
mean  those  group  organizations  formed  to  carry  on  some 
special  work.  When  we  attempt  to  classify  all  of  these 
groups,  we  find  the  task  one  of  great  difficulty  and  the 

^  Giddings,  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  p.  439. 

^  "  The  essential  basis  of  social  organization  in  every  stage  of  its  history  is 
like-mindedness,  and  all  social  organization  is  an  expression  of  some  mode  of 
like-mindedness  in  the  population."  —  Giddings,  ibid.,  p.  430. 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  59 

results  very  unsatisfactory.  For  our  purpose  we  shall  di- 
vide the  groups,  as  we  have  already  done  more  than  once, 
into  three  kinds:  (i)  the  economic,  which  sustain  society 
and  make  intercommunication  possible,  (2)  the  political^ 
which  protect  society,  regulate  its  legal  affairs,  and  con- 
sciously promote  its  general  interests,  and  (3)  the  dis- 
tinctively social,  which  form  the  basis  of  society  and  look 
after  interests  which  deal  neither  with  bread  and  butter 
nor  with  government.  Some  idea  of  the  relationships  which 
we  have  with  groups  of  which  we  are  members  or  with  those 
of  which  we  are  not  was  given  in  section  5. 

54.  Customs.  —  Public  organizations  are  made  up  of  The  nature 
people  who  have  permanent  relations  with  one  another  or  °^  customs, 
who  work  together  over  a  long  period  of  time.     Naturally 

these  people  develop  ways  of  thinking  alike  and  similar 
methods  of  working  out  common  problems.  In  other 
words,  they  have  developed  customs,  a  custom  being  a  form 
of  organization  or  method  of  procedure  developed  by  a  society 
in  its  past  and  continuing  in  its  later  history. 

Customs  are  the  silent  forces,  often  unconscious,  which   importance 
make  it  possible  for  the  people  of  any  community,  state,  or   oj  customs  m 
nation  to  live  together  in  harmony  and  work  for  a  common   barbarous  01 
end.i    Among  barbarous  people   there  are  few  laws  but   civilized, 
many  customs  which  protect  and  guide  the  society.     Even 
to-day  we  do  many  things  alike,  not  because  we  are  forced 
by  law  to  do  so,  but  for  the  reason  that  we  are  accustomed  to 
such  methods.     History  proves  that  popular  government  is 
possible  only  among  those  people  who  have  had  long  prep- 
aration for  self-rule  in  addition  to  real  capacity  for  it.     In 
fact,  civilization  is  far  more  a  matter  of  custom  than  of  law. 

55.  Institutions.  —  Institutions  are  organizations  or  sets 
of  activities  approved  by  the  people  of  their  group  as  an 
excellent  means  of  carrying  on  some  social  or  public  work 
for  an  object  desired  by  the  group.     Only  the  organizations 

^  Customs  furnish  not  only  the  life  blood  of  our  organizations,  but,  if  studied, 
improved,  developed,  and  standardized,  they  are  more  than  customs;  they 
may  become  institutions. 


6o 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


How  institu- 
tions are 
changed  and 
Improved  by 
intelligent 
collective  ac- 
tion. 


Social, 
economic, 
and  political 
institutions. 


How  experi- 
ence and  in- 
dividual 
character 
limit  social 
development. 


or  activities  of  large  and  permanent  groups  are v usually 
dignified  with  the  name  institutions.  They  usually  grow 
out  of  the  experience  of  many  people,  that  is,  through  cus- 
tom. But  since  any  society,  as  well  as  the  individuals  of  which 
it  is  composed,  is  intelUgent,  the  group  strives  constantly  to 
improve  its  institutions.  Through  laws  and  public  opinion,  by 
inventions  or  suggestions  of  some  leader  which  have  been 
accepted  by  the  society,  it  changes  its  institutions,  so  that 
they  are  in  the  form  most  desired  by  the  society,  in  the  form 
in  which  they  do  more  perfectly  the  work  for  which  they  are 
designed. 

Our  institutions,  then,  are  those  social  organizations  or 
activities  by  which  we  carry  on  our  work.  They ;  may  be 
distinctively  social,  as  a  family  or  a  public  school  system  or 
a  widespread  reUgious  belief  in  the  institution  of  monoga- 
mous marriage.  They  may  be  primarily  economic,  as  the 
institution  of  private  property,  or  the  factory  system,  or  the 
railway.  They  are  primarily  political  if  they  deal  chiefly 
with  law  or  government,  as,  for  example,  certain  bodies  of 
legal  rights  or  written  constitutions  or  governments  of  three 
departments.  They  form  the  real  framework,  the  skeleton, 
of  society  to-day.  We  may  change  them,  if  they  fail  to  do 
our  work  properly;  but  they  will  injure  us  if  we  change 
them  unwisely  or  too  abruptly,  and  destroy  us  if  we  attempt 
to  destroy  any  that  are  essential  to  our  welfare. 

56.  Limitations  in  the  Development  of  Institutions.  — 
Only  those  institutions  can  be  developed  or  used  by  any 
people  for  which  the  people  have  been  prepared  by  their 
experience  or  by  the  character  of  their  members.  The  Latin- 
American  republics  followed  the  example  of  the  United 
States  in  establishing  their  independence,  but  they  have 
failed  to  make  a  great  success  of  independence,  as  we  have, 
first,  because  their  people  have  not  developed  individually 
as  much  as  the  average  American,  and  secondly,  because  they 
have  had  only  one  century's  experience  in  self-government. 

As  EUwood  aptly  expresses  it,  "  The  higher  types  of  social 
coordination  require  a  corresponding   development  in  the 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  6l 

iniellige  ce  and  self-control  of  the  individuals  concerned.  .  .  .  EUwood's 
If  the  social  organization  of  any  people,  accordingly,  becomes  statement  on 
so  comp^'^x  that  the  character  and  intelUgence  of  its  con- 
stituent individuals  are  unable  to  meet  its  requirements, 
then  such  social  organization  must  disappear  and  there  is  a 
chance  that  in  the  process  of  social  dissolution  the  people 
or  natioi  itself  may  likewise  disappear."  ^ 

67.   Limitations  to  the  Development  of  High  School  Insti-  Conditions 
tutions.  —  It  should  be  the  aim  of  any  society,  however,  to  ""^^"^  '^^^^^^^ 
improve  its  institutions  as  much  as  the  individual  character  government 
of  its  members  will  permit.     This  is  as  true  for  schools  as  it  and  student 
is  for  nations.     Some  schools  have  proved  that  if  students  !!„"^!^*f°! 

^  may  be  suc- 

are  allowed  to  control  many  school  afairs,  such  as  the  super-  cessful. 
vision  of  corridors,  playgrounds,  and  study  halls,  they  will 
succeed  (i)  if  they  are  capable  of  self-government  and  (2)  if 
they  are  allowed  to  introduce  gradually  more  and  more  com- 
plicated forms  of  self-direction,  as  they  ''  make  good  "  in 
each  form  that  they  try.  Sometimes  they  do  well  at  first,  but 
later,  unfortunately,  self-government  proves  less  successful. 
In  school  and  in  civic  life  elsewhere  eternal  effort  is  the 
price  of  success. 

Another  series  of  practical  problems  is  encountered  in  Someeduca- 
certain  work  of  most  or  all  classes.     The  school  has  certain  tional  in- 
'*  institutions  "  such  as  classes,  notebooks,  and  examinations,   which  we 
In  every  school  these  questions  should  be  asked :  Are  our  should  use 
school  institutions  the  best  that  our  experience  and  charac-  Jja^ses. 
ter  permit  ?     Shall  we  have   the  institution  of  really  un- 
supervised tests  ?     Shall  we  have  notebook  work,  collateral 
reading,  and  reports  which  not  only  appear  good  but  are  just 
as  good  as  they  appear,  because  they  represent  honest,  careful, 
individual  work?     These  classroom  ''institutions"  are  the 
most  valuable  educational  organizations  or  activities  that  we 
can  have  in  advanced  civics  and  some  other  subjects,  be- 
cause the  students  will  get  more  education,  individually  and 
collectively,  from  their  use  than  from  any  substitutes. 

1  Ellwood,  Sociology  in  Its  Psychological  Aspects,  pp.  196-197. 


62 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Collective 

political 

control. 


Control 
through 
customs  and 
institutions. 


Group  unity 
which  de- 
serves to  be 
called  na- 
tionality. 


58.  Social  Control.  —  No  society,  that  is,  no  large  unified 
permanent  group  of  people,  can  continue  to  exist  unless  it 
controls  itself  and  the  activities  which  are  performed  by  its 
various  organizations  or  institutions.  In  order  to  care  for 
its  collective  public  interests  any  large  independent  society 
or  nation  organizes  itself  into  a  state  (§60).  The  state  or 
independent  political  society  regulates  its  general  affairs 
through  the  adoption  of  laws  which  embody  the  wishes  of 
the  society.  It  has  not  only  a  national  government,  but 
other  governments  which  are  the  agents  of  the  state  in  making 
and  enforcing  its  laws  and  in  carrying  on  the  pubHc  work 
of  the  state.  The  state  is,  therefore,  the  great  pubUc  or- 
ganization through  which  social  control  is  exercised. 

Control  is  exercised  in  an  infinite  number  of  ways  in 
addition  to  the  work  performed  by  government.  Every 
custom  which  society  has  adopted,  every  institution  which  it 
has  organized,  is  really  a  means  by  which  society  directs 
or  controls  some  activity  in  which  it  is  interested.  Two  of 
the  most  important  means  of  what  we  may  call  informal 
social  control  are  religion  and  morality,  which  seek  to  main- 
tain high  standards  of  thought  and  conduct  among  the 
members  of  society.  Free  public  education  is  to-day  one  of 
the  means  of  social  control  upon  which  we  place  greatest 
dependence, '  for  an  educated  nation  will  not  only  control 
itself  best  but  will  do  the  most  for  itself  and  its  members.^ 

59.  Nationality  and  Democracy.  —  Organizations,  pubHc 
and  private,  and  institutions  are  not  ends  in  themselves; 
they  are  simply  means  by  which  a  permanent  group  carries 
on  some  work  for  which  it  believes  the  institution  is  par- 


1  Two  diverse  methods  of  social  control  may  be  contrasted  briefly.  These  are 
prohibition  and  development.  In  the  early  development  of  the  race,  as  in  that  of 
the  individual,  the  word  "don't"  was  needed  constantly.  Prohibition  or  the 
use  of  the  taboo  helped  the  race,  as  it  helps  the  child,  to  avoid  dangers,  to  learn 
self-control,  and  to  protect  itself  as  it  developed.  As  the  race  and  child  have 
grown,  prohibition  should  have  played  a  constantly  smaller  part.  Otherwise 
the  child  and  the  race  tend  to  retain  many  characteristics  of  infancy.  The 
problem  for  a  nation  then  is  not  necessarily  to  see  how  few  prohibitions  it  may 
use,  for  that  may  prevent  it  from  protecting  itself  and  its  members,  but  to  see 
how  much  it  can  outgrow  the  need  of  prohibition  as  a  means  of  social  control. 


SOCIAL  ORGANIZATION  63 

ticularly  well  fitted.  The  group  has  no  personahty ;  it  is 
not  an  organism  as  the  individual  human  being  is  an  or- 
ganism, yet  it  acts  as  a  unit  if  it  is  well  developed.  On  this 
account  we  may  say  that  a  well-developed  social  group  has 
a  "  social  mind.^^  If  in  addition  this  large  social  group  has 
group  ideas  of  right  and  wrong,  we  may  say  also  that  it  has 
a  "  social  conscience ^  Because  large  groups  have  ''  social 
minds "  and  "  social  consciences,"  that  is,  because  they 
possess  "  like-mindedness,"  similar  ideas,  and  ideals,  it  is 
possible  to^  have  nations,  since  nationality  consists  in  this 
unity  which  we  have  just  described. 

It  is  not  solely  through  forms  of  association  or  through   Advantages 
customs  and  institutions  that  society  carries  on  its  work.   ^.^^  limita- 
Its  work  is  done  by  the  "  social  mind  "  or  "  social  conscience  "  mocracy  to 
acting  through  the  ''  social  will  " ;  for,  if  society  has  a  mind,   a  nation, 
why  not  a  will  also?     One  of  the  ways  in  which  the  ''  social 
will  "  expresses  itself  most  easily  and  commonly  is  through 
public   opinion.     In   modern  America  we    have  democracy 
because  the  people  not  only  have  been  able  to  express  their 
opinions  but  also  have  been  allowed  to  carry  out  their  plans 
and  wishes.     Without  a  comparatively  free  expression  of 
public  opinion  and  popular  will,  democracy  would  be  noth- 
ing but  a  form.     After  all,  self-government  is  not  the  real  goal 
of  social  existence ;   it  is  simply  a  means  to  an  end.     Good 
government  which  brings  with  it  liberty,  justice,  and  social 
betterment  must  be  the  chief  object  of  democracy  as  well 
as  of  other  forms  of  government. 

Political  Organization 

60.   The  State.  —  As  already  indicated,  the  political  or-  Definition  of 

ganization  of  any  nation  for  the  purpose  of  caring  for  its  ^g^^^te^and 

collective  public  interests  is   a   state.     Briefly   defined,   a  distinction 

state  is  an  independent  political  society,  such  as  Great  Britain  f^o"^  the 

or  France.     The  name  apphes  to  any  body  of  people  oc-  "nation." 
cupying  a  fairly  definite  territory  with  an  organized  gov- 
ernment who  are  in  no  essential  respect  subject  to  any  out- 


64 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The  work  of 
a  state. 


Government, 
liberty,  and 
^aw. 


side  power.  As  used  in  this  general  sense  a  state  should 
not  be  confused  with  the  commonwealths  of  our  Union 
which  we  call  states,  because  these  are  not  independent. 
It  should  be  distinguished  also  from  the  nation,  which 
is  a  similar  group  of  people  who  have  practically  the 
same  ideas  and  interests  and  therefore  belong  to  the 
same  race.  The  state  is  the  political  organization ;  the 
NATION  the  united  people.  The  supreme  power  used  by 
the  state  to  carry  out  its  wishes  or  demands  is  called 
sovereignty  (§  63), 

The  work  of  the  state  through  its  government  ^  is  protective 
in  that  it  protects  the  nation  from  outside  dangers,  and 
guards  the  nation  also  from  perils  within  by  protecting  the 
just  rights  of  individual  members  and  of  smaller  groups 
within  the  society.  The  work  of  the  state  is  regulativcy 
since  it  decides  what  relations  individuals  shall  have  to 
other  individuals,  as  parent  to  child,  or  as  employer  to  em- 
ployee ;  what  shall  be  the  relations  of  an  individual  to  any 
group,  as  voter  to  political  party  or  taxpayer  to  a  city;  or 
what  should  be  the  relations  between  groups,  as  the  relations 
of  labor  and  capital.  A  state's  work  is  directive  when  it 
undertakes  consciously  to  promote  the  interest  of  the  whole 
nation,  or  of  any  group,  or  of  any  member.  Protective 
tariffs,  public  libraries,  and  agricultural  experiment  stations 
are  examples  of  tasks  undertaken  for  the  welfare  of  certain 
groups. 

61.  The  Proper  Scope  of  Governmental  Duties.  —  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  government  is  no  more  the  state 
than  the  heart  and  lungs  of  an  animal  are  the  animal.  The 
government  is  the  chief  set  of  organs  of  the  state,  the  agent 
which  carries  out  its  will.  The  organization  of  the  state  itself 
and  of  the  government  must  necessarily  depend,  however, 
upon  the  experience  of  the  people  and  the  conditions  which 
exist  within  the  country .2  We  sometimes  get  the  impres- 
sion that  law  and  liberty,  or  government  and  liberty,  are 

1  For-classes  of  governmental  powers,  see  Appendix  C,  I. 

2  Compare  with  institutions  in  general  above  (§§  55-56). 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  65 

contradictory  terms.  If  this  were  so,  the  mofe  law  or  the 
more  government  we  have,  the  less  liberty  there  must  be ; 
but,  as  we  noticed  in  the  first  chapter,  law  and  government 
are  among  the  chief  means  by  which  we  protect  liberty. 
Therefore,  if  the  laws  are  good  and  the  governments  are 
properly  organized,  they  protect  the  liberty  of  the  people 
rather  than  interfere  with  popular  rights. 

Nevertheless  it  is  important  for  the  people  of  each  com-  Limits  of 
munity  and  nation  to  decide  carefully  what  the  Hmits  of  governmental 
governmental  activity  shall  be.  In  colonial  times,  when 
villages  were  few  and  small,  when  there  was  no  manufac- 
turing and  little  commerce,  when  a  simple  farm  life  was  the 
rule,  very  little  governmental  supervision  was  necessary. 
Large  cities,  great  trusts,  railways  of  continental  magnitude, 
and  entirely  different  standards  of  hving  have  changed  all 
this.  At  present  our  governments  must  control  and  regulate 
many  more  actions  of  the  citizens  than  formerly,  in  order 
not  only  to  promote  their  welfare,  but  to  give  them  protection. 
For  example,  no  one  doubts  the  right  of  the  government  to 
pass  and  enforce  all  proper  measures  for  the  health  of  the 
community.  This  may  lead  in  crowded  cities  to  regulations 
that  are  very  obnoxious  to  individual  householders.  Dealers 
may  be  obliged  to  submit  to  inspection  and  confiscation  of 
goods  which  might  injure  members  of  the  community,  and 
factories  are  continually  under  supervision  to  see  that  the 
health  of  the  operative  is  in  no  wise  endangered.  Too  little 
regulation  is,  like  too  much,  a  mark  of  poor  government. 
We  must  see  that  there  is  just  enough,  and  that  it  is  never 
applied  arbitrarily. 

62.   The  Need  of  National,  State,  and  Local  Government.   Three  sets  of 
—  No  one  government  can  do  all  the  thinsrs  needed  by  the  governments 

necessEry. 

people.  Some  work,  such  as  the  making  of  treaties  with 
other  nations,  must  be  intrusted  to  a  single  government  for 
the  whole  United  States.  All  other  foreign  relations,  all 
matters  such  as  money  standards,  a  postal  system,  and  the 
admission  of  new  states,  must  likewise  be  cared  for  by  a  single 
national  government.    This   central   government   also   looks 


66  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

after  all  interstate  ^  affairs,  since  no  state  can  care  for  im- 
portant interstate  interests.    State  governments  are  necessary 
to  make  laws  on  all  subjects  that  ought  not  to  vary  greatly 
;  from  county  to  county,  and  yet  need  not  be  the  same  through- 

out the  United  States.  Other  duties,  such  as  the  making 
of  roads  and  the  care  of  schools,  can  be  properly  performed 
only  by  governments  of  small  districts,  such  as  towns,  cities, 
or  counties.  We  have,  therefore,  a  third  kind  of  govern- 
ment, local  governments^  to  look  after  purely  local  affairs. 
The  con-  63.   Out  National  and  State  Constitutions.  —  All  the  gov- 

stitutions  ernments  in  the  United  States  are  popular  governments  — 
wishes  of  the  that  is,  the  people,  acting  through  the  qualified  voters  or 
people.  legal  representatives,  decide  what  the  form  of  each  govern- 

ment shall  be,  what  powers  it  shall  possess,  and  in  what 
way  the  government  and  its  powers  shall  be  changed  at 
any  time.  In  order,  however,  that  the  form  and  the  powers 
of  the  governments  shall  remain  the  same  until  the  people 
wish  them  to  be  changed,  the  people  of  the  nation  have 
adopted  the  very  important  document  called  the  Constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States,  and  the  people  of  each  state  have 
adopted  a  similar  constitution  for  their  state.  By  these 
written  constitutions  the  people  have  created  such  governments 
as  they  think  are  best  fitted  to  care  for  the  pubHc  interests  of 
the  states  and  the  nation.  It  will  readily  be  seen  that  no 
democratic  nation  can  maintain  a  permanent  political  or- 
ganization without  some  such  rigid  set  of  fundamental  laws 
as  the  written  constitution  furnishes.  A  written  constitu- 
tion, therefore,  defines  the  organization,  that  is,  the  form 
and  powers  of  the  central  government,  and  the  relation  of 
the  nation  to  its  subdivisions  (the  states  or  commonwealths), 
\nd  the  relations  of  the  nation  to  its  citizens.^ 
The  constitutions  may  be  amended  to  meet  new  needs  of 

1  The  term  "  mterstate  "  refers  to  any  interest  or  action  between  states :  intra- 
state to  those  within  a  single  state. 

2  We  have  also  an  unwritten  constitution  which  includes  all  important 
customs,  statutes,  and  judicial  decisions  which  increase  the  powers  of  the  central 
government  as  defined  in  the  written  constitution  or  change  in  any  essential 
respect  the  methods  proposed  in  a  written  constitution  (see  §§  214-217). 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  67 

the  people,  but  by  their  rigidity  they  prevent  hasty  changes.  Written 


They  cannot  be  altered  by  the  governmentSy  neither  can  the 
governments  make  any  change  in  their  own  powers.  All 
changes  in  an  old  constitution  must  be  made  by  the  people, 
who  made  that  constitution;  they  only  may  abolish  the  old 
constitution  and  have  a  new  one  in  its  place}  Since,  therefore, 
the  people  make  all  constitutional  changes,  we  say  the  people 
are  sovereign;  that  is,  the  people  have  the  supreme  power 
which  governments  and  individual  citizens  are  obliged  to  obey. 
As  it  is  not  desirable  that  all  citizens  (§1)  should  be  allowed 
an  active  share  in  the  selection  of  officials  and  in  the  making 
and  changing  of  constitutions,  the  people  through  these  con- 
stitutions prescribe  those  who  may  be  allowed  such  a  share 
in  the  government,  that  is,  those  who  may  vote.  In  all 
parts  of  the  United  States  we  have  manhood  suffrage;  in 
the  West  we  have  woman  suffrage  in  addition. 

64.  Representative  Government  through  Political  Parties. 
—  The  national  Constitution  not  only  provides  directly  for 
the  national  government,  but  provides  indirectly  for  the 
government  of  the  states  (commonwealths)  as  well.  The 
state  constitutions  include  provisions  for  local  government 
as  well  as  for  the  government  of  the  whole  state.  All  of 
these  governments  are  composed  of  representatives  who  are 
elected  by  voters  in  the  territory  governed,  or  of  officials  who 
are  appointed  by  some  direct  representative  of  the  people. 
Some  of  the  representatives,  as  the  President  of  the  United 
States  or  the  governors  of  the  states,  represent  the  whole 
nation  or  state.  Others,  such  as  the  members  of  the  lower 
house  of  Congress,  or  practically  all  members  of  the  state 
legislatures,  are  chosen  from  districts.  It  is  the  American 
practice,  when  representatives  are  chosen  for  any  legislative 
body,  to  divide  the  state  into  districts  which  have,  as  nearly 
as  possible,  the  same  'population.     In  short,  representative 

1  The  exact  method  by  which  the  people  are  to  change  any  existing  con- 
stitution is  prescribed  in  the  constitution  itsell.  There  is  considerable  varia- 
tion in  the  process  used  to  amend  the  present  state  and  national  Constitutions, 
as  we  can  see  by  consulting  §§  203,  208. 


consti- 
tutionSc 


68 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Political 
party  repre- 
sentatives. 


Why  there 
departments 
are  neces- 
sary. 


government  in  America  means  the  representation  from  ter- 
ritorial districts  of  equal  populations. 

These  representatives  and  the  officials  appointed  by  them 
are  members  of  some  unofficial  political  organization.  We 
call  these  organizations  political  parties,  although  some- 
times fairly  permanent  local  organizations  are  non-partisan. 
Whenever  an  election  is  held  to  fill  a  position,  each  political 
party  attempts  to  persuade  the  voters  to  select  a  man  from 
its  party  as  the  people's  representative.     Although  some 


(c)  Paid  W.  Cloud,  Minneapolis. 
The  Minnesota  State  Capitol. 

elections,  especially  in  cities,  are  not  party  contests,  it 
can  truthfully  be  said  that  government  in  the  United  States 
is  representative  government  of  the  people  acting  through  politi- 
cal parties. 

65.  The  Departments  of  Government.  —  In  order  .  that 
any  government  may  perform  properly  the  work  for  which 
it  has  been  created  by  the  people,  it  must  have  three  de- 
partments.   First  of  all,  there  must  be  some  body,  that  is, 


POLITICAL  ORGANIZATION  69 

group  of  persons,  to  make  laws,  and  this  body  is  called  the 
legislature  or  the  legislative  department.  Then,  we  must  have 
officials  who  see  that  the  laws  are  obeyed,  and  those  officials 

I      who  enforce  the  laws  constitute  the  executive  department. 

f  Finally,  a  system  of  courts  is  necessary  so  that  proper  pun- 
ishment may  be  meted  out  to  those  who  break  the  laws, 
and  that  persons  who  have  suffered  loss  or  injury  at  the  hands 
of  others  may  have  an  opportunity  to  secure  redress  for  the 
wrong  done.  Those  courts  which  interpret  the  laws  are 
known  as  the  judicial  department.  One  of  the  most  dis- 
tinctive characteristics  of  American  government  is  the  al- 
most complete  separation  of  these  three  departments.  This 
separation  has  been  made  because  our  people  have  always 
believed  that  the  liberties  of  the  people  would  be  endangered 
if  the  departments  were  united,  because  we  have  preferred  a 
government  of  checks  and  balances. 

66.    Our  Federal  System  of  Government.  —  Our  country  Distribution 
is  governed  under  two  great  systems  of  government,  each  of  of  powers  m 
which  has  its  own  constitution  or  set  of  constitutions.     These  tem  of  gov- 
two  which  carry  out  the. wishes  of  a  single  sovereign  people  emment. 
are  the  nation  and  the  states^  (commonwealths).     Such 
a  division  of  power  between  state  and  national  governments, 
which  look  after  diferent  interests  and  work  independently, 
although  simply  supplementing  each  other,  is  called  a  "  fed- 
eral SYSTEM  "  of  government.     This  division  of  the  work  of 
governing  leaves  to  the  national  government  such  matters  as 
foreign  and  interstate  affairs,  and  many  other  duties  that  no 
one  state  can  perform  for  itself,  while  the  governments  of 
the  states  are  allowed  to  make  and  carry  out  laws  concern- 
ing the  holding  and  transference  of  land,  laws  dealing  with 
marriage  and  divorce,  education,  the  punishment  of  crime, 
the  incorporation  of  industrial  and  many  other  corporations ; 
in  fact,  with  an  almost  innumerable  Ust  of  subjects  for  which 
uniform  laws  are  not  supposed  to  be  necessary  throughout 

1  By  the  term  "state"  is  meant  the  people  of  the  whole  state,  who  are 
governed  under  a  central  government,  usually  called  the  "state"  govern- 
ment, and  under  local  governments. 


70 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


DiflFerence 
between  a 
centralized 
and  a  federal 
system  of 
government. 


Seven  char- 
acteristics of 
government 
in  this 
country. 


the  United  States.  This  federalism  is  perhaps  the  most  dis- 
tinctive and  important  feature  of  our  government. 

In  some  countries,  most  or  all  of  these  subjects  last  named 
are  looked  after  by  the  national  government,  which  is  then 
called  a  centralized  government.  In  the  United  States,  how- 
ever, these  powers  of  government  are  left  with  the  states, 
and  the  states  cannot  be  deprived  of  them  except  by  the 
people  of  the  whole  United  States  in  the  cumbersome  way 
provided  for  the  amendment  of  the  national  Constitution. 
We  have  therefore  a  system  that  is  not  centralized,  but 
which  constitutes  a  form  of  federalism. 

67.  Characteristics  of  American  Government.  A  Sum- 
mary. —  The  most  important  characteristics  of  American 
government  may  be  summarized  as  follows :  The  United 
States  has  (i)  popular  government  (2)  based  on  the  written 
constitution  and  (3)  carried  into  effect  through  a  system  of 
representation.  It  is  distinguished  by  (4)  a  broad  citizenship 
with  ample  protection  of  citizen  rights,  (5)  manhood  suf- 
frage, and  (6)  the  separation  of  the  departments  of  government. 
(7)  Although  the  people  of  the  nation  are  sovereign,  the 
federal  system  provides  that  part  of  the  work  shall  be  per- 
formed by  distinct  governments,  the  national  and  the  state. 


Importance 
of  economic 
processes  and 
activities. 


Economic  Organization  and  Activities 

68.  Some  Fundamental  Economic  Processes.  —  Although 
we  are  treating  economic  organization  last,  nevertheless  we 
should  understand  that  the  getting  of  a  living  is  more  im- 
portant than  laws  or  institutions.  Men  may  be  law  abiding, 
but  they  will  not  voluntarily  starve  to  death  because  custom 
or  law  prohibits  their  doing  the  only  things  that  will  keep 
them  from  starvation.^    We  have  already  discussed  economic 


1  On  the  contrary,  if  men  find  it  necessary  to  change  their  occupations  in 
order  to  earn  a  better  living,  sooner  or  later  their  laws  will  be  changed  and 
their  social  organization  will  be  modified  in  order  that  the  new  business  may 
prosper.  In  short,  a  change  of  economic  conditions  leads  to  new  laws  and  to 
different  forms  of  social  organizations,  although  new  laws  and  new  social 
organizations  may  have  little  effect  on  occupations. 


ECONOMIC  ORGANIZATION  7 1 

organization  a  little,  especially  in  connection  with  the  dis- 
tribution of  occupations'  (§§  34,  36,  41).  There  are,  further- 
more, certain  economic  processes  with  which  it  is  worth  while 
to  be  familiar,  for  continual  reference  must  be  made  to  them  , 
in  the  discussion  of  any  phase  of  life  to-day.  These  are 
production,  distribution,  exchange,  and  consumption. 

Production  is  the  process  of  creating  wealth.    The  miner  Production, 
who  digs  minerals  out  of  the  earth,  the  farmer  who  raise's 
grain  or  vegetables,  and  the  manufacturer  who  transforms 
raw  materials  into  finished  products  are  typical  producers. 

In  the  process  of  production  use  is  made  of  land  or  other  Distribution 
natural  resources,  capital  must  be  utilized  in  the  form  of  f^^^%^^' 
tools  and  raw  materials,  labor  must  be  provided  at  every  use  of  land, 
stage  in  the  creation  of  the  product,  and  some  one,  whom  Jabor,  cap- 
we  may  call  the  enterpriser,  must  take  the  trouble  and  the  "enterprise." 
risk  of  seeing  that  the  commodity  is  created  by  the  com- 
bination of  land,  labor,  and  capital.     The  landowner  will 
not  risk  his  land,  nor  the  capitalist  his  capital,  nor  the  laborer 
furnish  his  labor  unless  each  secures  a  return.     When  any 
wealth  is  produced,  therefore,  it  is   divided   among   these 
classes  of  producers ;   the  landlord  obtaining  rent,  the  capi- 
talist interest,  the  laborer  wages,  and  the  enterpriser  profits. 
This  process  of  division  is  called  distribution. 

The  process  of  transferring  commodities  from  one  owner  Exchange, 
to  another  is  known  as  exchange.     As  it  is  inconvenient  to    ' 
barter  one  commodity  directly  for  another,  use  is  made  of 
money  or  credit.  Transportation  systems  and  stores  of  all  kinds 
are  examples  of  economic  organizations  used  in  exchange. 

The  end  for  which  all  commodities  are  made  and  exchanged  Why  con- 
is  of  course  the  satisfaction  of  human  wants,  or  consump-  thrmoTfim- 
TiON.     Unless  there  is  demand  for  certain  articles,  no  one  will  damental 
go  to  the  trouble  or  expense  of  making  goods  or  shipping  them  process  of  all. 
to  market  for  sale. 

69.   Some  Characteristics  of  the  Economic  Order  To-day.   Contrast  be- 
—  A  comparison  of  the  business  world  to-day  with  that  of  ^q^^^J^^^^ 
ancient  times  or  of  the  Middle  Ages  reveals  some  startling  and  bondage 
differences.    The  first  fact  which  impresses  us  is  the  preva-  ^^  ^^^  P^-st- 


72 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Private 
enterprise 
and  initia- 
tive. 


How  laws  to- 
day favor  the 
acquisition, 
retention, 
and  bequest 
of  private 
property. 


lence  to-day  of  personal  freedom.  In  ancient  society  there 
were  multitudes  of  slaves  and  othei:  multitudes  of  common 
people  little  better  than  slaves.  In  the  Middle  Ages  more 
than  nine  tenths  of  the  rural  population  were  peasants,  either 
villeins  or  serfs.  The  villein  was  partly  free,  but  the  serf 
was  bound  to  the  land. 

A  second  characteristic  of  the  present  economic  order  is 
private  enterprise.  Every  worker  is  allowed  to  choose  freely 
the  work  that  he  wishes  to  do.  The  state  does  not  compel 
him  to  follow  the  business  of  his  father,  or  to  do  any  special 
work.  The  selection  of  his  occupation  is  limited  chiefly  by 
his  education,  his  taste,  and  his  personal  fitness.  If  he  is 
uneducated,  he  may  not  practice  law  or  medicine  because 
society  insists  that  lawyers  and  physicians  shall  know  at 
least  the  rudiments  of  their  profession.  If  he  possesses  capi- 
tal, he  is  not  obliged  by  law  or  custom  to  invest  that  wealth 
in  land  or  in  some  specified  form  of  wealth ;  he  may  choose 
agriculture  lands,  mortgages,  industrial  or  railway  stocks, 
or  any  other  form  of  investment  which  he  wishes  and  is  able 
to  make.  American  society  to-day  encourages  the  inven- 
tion of  new  machines  and  the  development  of  new  businesses 
by  giving  patents  to  inventors  and  special  privileges  to  new 
types  of  enterprises.  Consequently  profits  may  be  higher  in 
new  businesses,  although  the  risk,  of  course,  is  greater. 

70.  Private  Property  and  Contract.  —  The  most  impor- 
tant economic  institutions  in  use  in  America  to-day  besides 
the  two  named  above  are  private  property  and  contract. 
What  any  individual  may  earn  or  save  becomes  his  own. 
In  some  countries  only  movable  goods  have  been  subject 
to  private  ownership.  In  the  Middle  Ages  land  was  not 
owned  by  the  people  who  held  it  or  used  it,  but  was  held  in 
fief  by  nobles  who  owed  feudal  allegiance  to  overlords  and 
was  *'  rented  "  by  them  to  peasants.  With  us  to-day  pri- 
vate ownership  has  been  encouraged  by  the  lavish  disposal 
of  valuable  government  lands,  by  laws  which  promote  pri- 
vate enterprise,  by  laws  which  have  protected  private  property 
even  more  than  the  life  of  the  workers,  and  by  laws  which 


ECONOMIC  ORGANIZATION 


73 


permit  wealth  to  be  bequeathed  from  generation  to  genera- 
tion (§  145). 

Without  the  right  of  contract  individuals  would  not  have 
been  able  to  amass  or  protect  private  property  as  they  have. 
The  American  people  allow  any  responsible  adult,  or  the 
guardian  of  younger  people,  to  make  contracts  for  doing 
any  work,  if  they 
are  made  volunta- 
rily and  give  a  fair 
return  to  each  party 
to  the  contract.  If 
either  party  fails  to 
keep  his  part  of  a 
contract,  the  gov- 
ernment, on  request 
of  the  injured  party, 
forces  both  parties 
to  keep  the  contract. 

71.  Division  of 
Labor  and  Large- 
scale  Industry.  — 
Other  characteris- 
tics of  modern  in- 
dustrial activity  are 
division  of  labor, 
with  large-scale  pro- 
duction. The  two 
tend  to  go  together. 
When  every  family 
produced  almost  everything  which  it  needed,  each  man 
raised  his  own  food,  made  his  own  clothing  and  shoes,  in 
addition  to  the  furniture  and  utensils  of  his  home,  and  with 
the  help  of  neighbors  built  his  own  house.  The  worker 
to-day  is  not  a  jack-of-all-trades ;  he  is  a  specialist.  His 
specialty  may  be  diseases  of  the  eye,  or  corporation  law,  or 
the  teaching  of  physics.  It  may  be  the  specialized  work 
of  engineer,  bookkeeper,  or  watchman,  or  simply  one  of  a 


How  the  gov- 
ernment al- 
lows freedom 
of  contract, 
yet  enforces 
contracts. 


©  Edwin  Levlct. 
The  New  Financial  Center  of  the  World. 


Specializa- 
tion and 
division  of 
labor. 


74 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Why  large- 
scale  pro- 
duction 
through  cor- 
porations is 
the  most 
productive 
form  of 
industry. 


Cooperation 
in  all  stages 
of  all  eco- 
nomic pro- 


thousand  processes  into  which  the  work  of  a  factory  is 
divided.  The  name  division  of  labor  is  appUed  particularly 
to  work  of  the  last  type. 

It  stands  to  reason  that  any  work  which  is  subdivided  into 
a  thousand,  or  a  hundred,  or  even  a  dozen  operations  can- 
not be  done  in  a  small  shop  or  factory.  As  it  is  possible  to 
produce  much  more  by  a  division  of  labor  through  which  each 
worker  acquires  skill  and  speed  for  his  specialized  task, 
modern  industry  naturally  is  on  a  large  scale.  The  invention 
of  machines,  the  improvement  of  machinery,  and  the  in- 
creased size  of  machines  is  a  further  reason  for  using  large 
factories  rather  than  small  shops.  As  large  factories  and 
great  combinations  of  industrial  plants  or  transportation 
systems  cannot  be  owned  by  the  ordinary  capitaUst,  even  if  he 
is  a  millionaire,  the  state  allows  many  investors  to  put  their 
savings  together.  The  corporation  that  issues  stock  which  can 
be  sold  in  shares  in  small  quantities  enables  many  investors 
to  provide  the  capital  necessary  for  great  undertakings. 

72.  Cooperation  and  Markets.  —  Not  only  is  cooperation 
necessary  within  each  factory  or  railway  system,  but  it  is 
also  necessary  between  different  groups  of  producers  and 
consumers.  Few  factories  produce  the  raw  material  which 
they  use.  No  railway  produces  either  the  raw  materials 
or  the  finished  products  which  it  transports.  Each  group 
of  industrial  workers  keeps  steadily  at  its  task ;  the  farmer 
in  the  field,  the  miner  underground,  the  operative  in  the  fac- 
tory, the  trainmen  on  the  railway,  the  clerks  in  the  store, 
and  the  capitaUst  in  his  office.  Each  does  a  necessary  share 
in  the  great  complicated  process  of  adding  something  to 
the  value  of  commodities  which  will  eventually  be  purchased 
by  some  consumer  and  used  by  that  consumer  to  satisfy  his 
wants.  So  highly  is  cooperation  developed  in  industry  to- 
day for  the  great  market  in  which  producers  and  consumers 
are  brought  together. 

73.  Competition  and  Monopoly.  —  In  most  of  these  pro- 
cesses the  workers  are  stimulated  by  the  knowledge  that 
they  are  in  competition  with  countless  others.     If  they  fail  to 


ECONOMIC  ORGANIZATION 


75 


do  their  share  of  the  work,  they  reaUze  that  they  will  not  only 
produce  little,  and  receive  little,  but  that  they  will  be  re- 
placed by  others  who  do  more.  Competition  also  nerves 
each  to  excel,  since  profits  are  large  if  one  can  make  his  work 
a  great  success. 

Knowing  also  that  if  competition  can  be  cut  down  the 
profits  will  be  still  larger,  every  one  who  can  limit  competi- 
tion in  his  line  tries  to  do  so.  An  eye-specialist  who  is  recog- 
nized as  greater  than  his  competitors  has  almost  a  monopoly 
and  commands  high  prices  for  his  time.     The  holder  of  a 


HI 

i 

^Wi 

wm 

^HP 

Im 

H  ^'     i 

■ 

m 

^^MM 

l^^^^H 

^^^H 

^^1 

V|r*^^'^^si9 

■^1 

Wm^^m 

^iPi 

H 

^ .  ^^J^H 

Competition 
to  prevent 
loss  and  se- 
cure gain. 


Advantages 
of  personal, 
legal,  and  in* 
dustrial 
monopolies. 


Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  United  States. 


patent,  which  is  a  legal  monopoly  of  the  right  to  manufac- 
ture the  article  patented,  makes  as  much  profit  as  possible 
while  he  has  control  of  the  market.  The  producer  of  steel  or  oil 
seeks  to  create  a  giant  corporation  or  group  of  corporations 
which  makes  it  possible  for  him  to  charge  higher  prices  and 
therefore  gain  more  profit. 

74.  Production  and  Distribution.  —  Societies  are  very 
dependent  for  welfare  and  success  upon  the  creation  of 
wealth.    People  frequently  overlook  this  simple  fact,   de- 


76 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Why  the 
production  of 
wealth  is  of 
first  im- 
portance. 


Economic 
and  social 
progress  to 
be  measured 
by  general 
welfare  and 
by  improved 
standards  of 
living. 


Why  civic 
organization 
is  of  value 
to  us  as  in- 
dividual 
citizens. 


Why  a 

knowledge  of 
civic  or- 
ganization is 
necessary  to 
imderstand 
our  rights  as 
well  as  ovu: 
duties. 


daring  that  a  better  distribution  of  wealth  alone  is  necessary. 
Better  distribution  is  most  important,  if  sufficient  wealth  is 
created  for  distribution.  The  first  aim  of  any  economic  so- 
ciety therefore  should  be  the  production  of  a  large  amount 
of  wealth.  The  creation  of  the  greatest  possible  wealth  might 
seem  simply  a  matter  of  industrious  labor,  but  it  is  far  more 
than  that,  because  it  depends  also  on  abundant  capital, 
fine  machines,  and  an  excellent  economic  organization,  in- 
telligently directed. 

The  second  aim  of  any  economic  society  should  be  the  just 
distribution  of  wealth,  for  it  is  of  little  value  socially  to  pro- 
duce wealth  if  it  is  distributed  unfairly.  Progress,  success, 
and  prosperity  are  after  all  relative  terms.  They  are  to  be 
measured,  not  by  the  total  wealth  of  a  country,  or  by  the 
sum  annually  added  to  that  wealth,  but  by  improved  stand- 
ards of  living  among  the  people  and  by  increased  general 
welfare.     (See  §§  87-88.) 

75.  Civic  Organization  and  the  Citizen.  —  The  question 
may  be  asked,  "  What  has  this  civic  organization,  social, 
political,  and  economic,  to  do  with  me  as  a  citizen?  "  It 
underlies  citizenship.  As  already  noted,  citizenship  is  chiefly 
a  matter  of  rights  and  duties.  These  rights  and  these  duties, 
for  they  are  usually  inseparable,  grow  out  of  our  relations  to 
different  civic  groups  or  to  some  person  in  some  group.  A 
few  of  these  can  be  mentioned  as  typical  of  others.  We 
have  obhgations  to  parents,  and  to  schoolmates ;  to  the  gov- 
ernment officials  in  paying  taxes  and  in  obeying  laws;  to 
landlords  and  to  employers.  In  each  case  we  have  rights. 
The  point  to  be  noticed  is  that  our  obligations  as  well  as  our 
rights  extend  to  any  person  or  to  any  civic  group  with  whom 
we  have  any  dealings  whatsoever,  directly  or  indirectly. 

Is  it  not  advisable,  is  it  not  necessary,  that  we  know  a 
little  about  the  general  character  of  this  nation  of  ours,  with 
its  complex  organization,  social,  political,  and  economic? 
The  less  we  know  of  it,  the  more  certain  are  we  to  fail  in 
securing  the  rights  to  which  we  are  entitled  and  the  more 
surely  will  we  fail  to  fulfill  our  obligations.    We  may  object 


of  economic 
character- 


Civic  ORGANIZATION  77 

to  the  first  statement  and  contend  that  the  more  ignorant 
the  citizen,  the  more  he  insists  on  his  rights.  That  is  quite 
true,  but  since  he  does  not  really  know  what  his  rights  are, 
he  probably  does  not  get  those  of  which  he  is  ignorant. 
Instead  he  gets  into  trouble  by  trying  to  have  what  he 
wrongfully  thinks  are  his  rights. 

These  are  some  of  the  characteristics  of  economic  organi-  Summary 
zation  and  activity  in  America  to-day,  personal  freedom  of 
workers,  private  enterprise,  private  property,  the  right  of  [sties. 
contract,  division  of  labor,  large-scale  production,  cooper- 
ation, and  competition  in  wide  markets. 

General  References 

Blackmar  and  Gillen,  Outlines  of  Sociology,  82-111,  172-219,  349-422. 

EUwood,  Sociology  in  Its  Psychological  Aspects,  143-198,  329-381. 

Hayes,  Introduction  to  Study  of  Sociology,  74-132,  339-445. 

Kirkpatrick,  Fundamentals  of  Sociology. 

Cooley,  Social  Organization,  esp.  23-50,  121-156,  3i3-355>  395-419- 

Giddings,  Descriptive  and  Historical  Sociology,  429-540. 

Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State,  1-30. 

Willoughby,  Rights  and  Duties  of  American  Citizenship,  Part  I. 

Wilson,  The  State,  555-639. 

Willoughby,  The  American  Constitutional  System,  3-33,  111-189. 

Ely  et  al..  Outlines  of  Economics,  Chap.  II. 

Hamilton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems,  II. 

Ely,  Property  and  Contract,  1,  1-236,  II,  555-677. 

Topics 

The  Forms  or  Association  :  Ellwood,  Sociology  in  Its  Psychological 
Aspects,  340-351;  Blackmar  and  Gillen,  Outlines  of  Sociology,  93-11 1; 
Cooley,  Social  Organization,  23-31,  209-216;  Giddings,  Elements  of 
Sociology,  172-215. 

Modern  Large  Scale  Industry  :  Bogart,  Economic  History  of  the 
United  States,  373-418;  Ely  et  al..  Outlines  of  Economics,  136-155; 
Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.) ,  Materials  for  Elementary  Economics, 
299-339 ;  Haney,  Business  Organization  and  Combination,  Book  II. 

Studies 

1.  Social  coordination  and  social  cooperation.  Ellwood,  Sociology  in 
Its  Psychological  Aspects,  143-152. 

2.  Means  of  social  self-control.  Ellwood,  Sociology  in  Its  Psycho- 
logical Aspects,  181-188. 


78  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

3.  Social  mind.     Giddings,  Elements  of  Sociology,  iigr-i 28. 

4.  Government  by  party  in  America.  Young,  The  New  American 
Government  and  Its  Work,  549,  560-572. 

5.  Our  federal  system  of  government.  Willoughby,  The  Am>erican 
Constitutional  System,  3-1 1,  135-153. 

6.  Private  property.  Hamilton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems, 
658-668. 

7.  Localization  in  manufacturing  industries.  Marshall,  Wright,  and 
Field  (eds.),  Materials  for  the  Study  of  Elementary  Economics,  189-197. 

8.  Freedom  of  contract.  Hamilton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Prob- 
lems, 669-678. 

9.  Cooperation  in  America.     Review  of  Reviews,  47  (1913),  455-470. 

Questions 

1.  Show  how  social  organizations  are  somewhat  like  animal  organ- 
isms, and  how  they  are  unlike. 

2.  Explain  these  terms :  differentiation,  coordination,  custom,  insti- 
tution, social  mind,  public  opinion. 

3.  Show  the  difference  between  social  organization  and  social  control. 

4.  Why  is  custom  so  important  in  all  primitive  societies  ?  Is  custom 
as  binding  to-day  as  it  was  in  the  Middle  Ages  ?     If  not,  why  not  ? 

5.  Does  the  development  of  institutions  depend  at  all  on  the  com- 
plexity of  civic  organization?  on  the  intelligence  of  the  people?  on  the 
fact  that  the  society  is  growing  rather  rapidly  ? 

6.  Define  these  terms :  state,  nation,  sovereignty,  constitutions,  rep- 
resentative government,  federal  system. 

7.  What  is  the  difference  between  the  protective,  regulative,  and 
directive  duties  of  the  state?  Is  it  true  that  the  more  law  we  have,  the 
less  liberty  there  is  ?     Is  the  reverse  true  ? 

8.  Name  and  explain  six  characteristics  of  American  government 
to-day.     Can  you  name  another? 

9.  Explain  production,  distribution,  exchange,  and  consumption. 

10.  If  land,  capital,  labor,  and  the  enterpriser  each  contribute  some- 
thing in  producing  any  commodity,  is  each  entitled  to  a  return  ?  What 
is  the  return  for  the  use  of  each  called  ? 

11.  Why  are  personal  freedom,  private  enterprise,  private  property, 
and  freedom  of  contract,  for  us  as  individuals,  the  fundamental  charac- 
teristics of  economic  organization  to-day? 

12.  Show  how  modern  industry  depends  on  development  of  markets, 
reasonable  competition,  cooperation  of  producers,  sellers  and  consumers, 
division  of  labor,  and  large-scale  industry. 

13.  Why  is  the  successful  creation  of  wealth  a  more  fundamental 
problem  for  society  than  is  the  distribution  of  that  wealth?  Why  is 
just  distribution  the  most  important  present  social  problem? 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  AMERICAN  HOME  AND   FAMH^Y 


The  Importance  of  the  American  Home 

76.  The  Family  as  the  Sole  Social  Unit.  —  The  history 
of  civilized  society  in  ancient  and  in  medieval  and  in  modern 
times  is  a  history  of  societies  made  up  of  families.  Cities 
are  necessary  for  carrying  on  business  and  securing  the  maxi- 
mum of  profit  and  enjoyment  of  life ;  states  (commonwealths) 
are  important  in  the  making  of  laws,  the  preservation  of 
order,  and  the  pro- 
tection of  rights ; 
nations  are  essential 
for  the  organization 
of  large  societies  for 
their  government, 
protection,  and  de- 
velopment ; but none 
is  as  important  as 
the  family,  the  eco- 
nomic unit  in  the 
use  of  wealth,  for 
which  alone  wealth 
is  created  —  the 
basis  of  society  to-day  as  in  the  past  and  the  only  distinctly 
social  unit  in  the  modern  world. 

Humanity  has  created  a  great  civiHzation.  Each  gen- 
eration must  add  something  of  value.  The  children  of  to- 
day, if  born  into  good  homes,  will  carry  on  the  work  of  past 
ages,  making  the  next  half  century  greater  than  this  half, 
as  this  half  is  greater  than  the  late  nineteenth  century.     We 

79 


A  Metropolitan  Apartment  House. 


Economic 
and  social 
importance 
of  the  family 


How  hu- 
manity's 
progress  de- 
pends upon 
good  homes. 


8o 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The  home 
and  the 
dwelling 
place. 


Why  the 
polygamous 
families  did 
BOt  have  a 
real  home. 


Why  mo- 
nogamy has 
been  com- 
mon and  is 
better  than 
polygamy. 


must  have  strong,  healthy  children,  cared  for  by  loving,  wise 
parents,  and  trained  for  Ufe  and  citizenship.  In  short,  we 
must  have  good  homes ;  for  upon  the  real  success  of  the  home 
all  of  these  things  depend. 

Every  child  has  a  right  to  a  home,  a  family  center.  So- 
ciety may  protect  him  by  negative  safeguards;  the  home 
must  make  him  a  useful  citizen.  The  home  must  not  be 
confused  with  the  house,  for  the  home  is  the  family  center. 
The  dwelling  place  may  consist  of  but  two  rooms  in  a  city 
tenement  or  a  boarding  house;  it  may  be  one  of  a  dozen 
apartments  on  some  floor  of  a  metropolitan  building;  it 
may  be  the  tiny  cottage  of  an  unskilled  laborer,  the  residence 
of  a  wealthy  merchant,  or  the  imposing  palace  of  a  mil- 
lionaire. Environment  does  not  make  the  home,  but  unfa- 
vorable environment  certainly  helps  to  destroy  it. 

77.  Marriage  in  the  Past.  —  In  all  ages  the  character  of 
the  home  has  been  influenced  greatly  by  the  marriage  cus- 
toms and  laws  of  a  people.  Where  polygamy  was  practiced, 
the  home  was  necessarily  very  different  from  the  average 
American  home  of  to-day.  The  father  or  the  patriarch  was 
absolute  ruler.  Each  wife  had  few  rights  and  only  a  minor 
share  in  the  home,  and  she  probably  was  not  related  to  any 
other  wife  except  through  marriage  to  the  patriarch.  The 
half  brothers  and  sisters  did  not  have  toward  one  another  the 
interest  which  American  youths  have  in  their  brothers  and 
sisters.  Consequently  the  home  was  able  to  do  less  for  each 
child  than  a  home  does  to-day. 

Among  civiHzed  people  monogamy  has  probably  always 
been  far  more  common  than  polygamy,  even  where  po- 
lygamy was  permitted.  The  fact  that,  so  far  as  our  obser- 
vation goes,  the  number  of  men  has  usually  been  about  the 
same  as  the  number  of  women  in  any  normal  society  has 
made  the  marriage  of  one  man  and  one  woman  natural  and 
necessary.  The  social  advantages  of  a  monogamous  family 
over  a  patriarchal  family  favor  the  former.  The  modern 
American  family  suffers  few  of  the  disadvantages  just  enu- 
merated for  the  polygamous  group. 


THE  AMERICAN  HOME 


8i 


78.  Society  and  Marriage  Laws.  —  The  American  home 
to-day  is  not  what  it  was  a  century  ago  or  what  it  will  be  a 
few  decades  or  a  century  hence,  but  it  is  a  much  finer 
institution  than  that  which  we  have  been  considering.  We 
shall  notice  later  the  changing  character  of  the  American 
home,  the  problems  of  its  permanence,  and  its  economic 
position.  For  a  moment  let  us  consider  the  question  of 
marriage  and  marriage  laws  to-day. 

In  all  ages  marriage  has  been  regulated  by  custom  as  well 
as  by  law.  In  fact,  the  law  usually  embodies  little  besides 
the  customs  of  any  people.  This  alone  shows  that  marriage 
is  essentially  a  social  institution,  regulated  by  the  whole 
society.  Naturally  any  society  is  vitally  interested  in,  and 
affected  by,  its  chief  social  institution.^  Society,  however, 
has  never  made  many  positive  regulations  regarding  mar- 
riage; it  has  contented  itself  with  negative  rules  or  laws. 
Children  are  not  allowed  to  marry,  nor  is  a  man  who  has 
been  married  once  permitted  to  marry  again  as  long  as  he  is 
legally  married  to  his  first  wife.  Marriage  ceremonies  are 
always  required  and  marriage  licenses  usually  demanded. 

79.  The  Individual  American  and  Marriage.  —  Among 
some  peoples  custom  has  decided  rather  definitely  whom  a 
young  man  may  marry  and  whom  he  may  not  marry.  In 
many  other  countries  the  selection  of  a  husband  or  wife  is 
settled  by  the  parents  of  the  bride  or  groom.  In  America, 
society  does  not  prescribe  by  law  how  a  life  companion 
shall  be  selected,  nor  by  custom  does  the  family  decide  this 
momentous  question.     In  America  far  more  than  in  any 


The  Ameri- 
can home, 
past  and 
future. 


Why  society 
is  vitally  in- 
terested in 
marriage 
laws. 


American 
freedom  iii 
selecting  u 
mate  con- 
trasted with 
usages  in 
other  coun- 
tries. 


^  In  so  vital  an  affair  as  marriage,  society  has  been  exceedingly  cautious  and 
has  not  added  greatly  to  the  regulations  which  have  been  developed  in  past 
centuries.  In  fact,  it  has  almost  abandoned  some  of  the  old  safeguards,  such  as 
the  publication  of  the  banns,  during  a  series  of  weeks  before  marriage  and  the 
performance  of  the  marriage  ceremony  by  some  responsible  person  in  authority 
who  knows  the  contracting  parties.  Although  some  new  rigid  laws  have  been 
passed  in  a  few  American  states,  in  general  the  attitude  of  society  has  been  to 
"make  haste  slowly."  Certainly  we  should  not  hesitate  to  use  all  means  which 
would  properly  safeguard  public  morals,  or  which  would  insure  to  the  next  gener- 
ation healthier  bodies  and  a  better  start  in  the  world  than  were  possessed  by  the 
children  of  the  past. 
G 


82 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


What  the 
school  can 
do  or  must 
do  in  prepar- 
ing youths 
for  home  life 
in  the  future. 


other  country  a  young  man  or  a  young  woman  has  almost 
unrestricted  choice  of  a  mate.  It  is  especially  necessary, 
therefore,  that,  for  their  own  welfare  and  that  of  society, 
the  choice  shall  be  wise. 

However  interesting  a  discussion  of  matrimony  might 
prove  to  be,  this  is  not  the  place  for  a  consideration  of  that 
difficult  and  important  subject.  Yet,  if  the  home  neglects 
its  duty  of  preparing  its  young  people  for  life  in  homes  of 
their  own,  the  school  must  necessarily  take  up  part  of  the 
burden.  In  a  nation  in  which  more  than  nine  tenths  of  the 
housewives  do  their  own  work,  it  can  at  least  give  the  girls 
a  rudimentary  training  in  the  care  of  a  home.  It  can  pre- 
pare the  boys  to  be  better  breadwinners.  It  can  show  the 
folly  of  hasty  or  too  early  marriages,  the  disadvantages  of 
marriages  delayed  until  middle  age,  and  the  objection  to 
establishing  a  home  on  an  inadequate  income.  It  can  em- 
phasize the  risk  of  marrying  some  one  of  radically  different 
age  or  character  or  one  accustomed  to  a  totally  different 
standard  of  living.  It  can  point  out  the  dangers  of  marrying 
for  a  home  without  love,  of  neglecting  the  question  of  health, 
and  of  disregarding  the  accumulated  wisdom  of  parents, 
friends,  and  society. 


Permanence  of  the  Family 


Almost  abso- 
lute right  of 
divorce  for 
men  in  an- 
cient times. 


Divorce  dur- 
ing the  Mid- 
dle Ages  and 
the  Refor- 
mation. 


80.  Divorce  in  the  Past.  —  Almost  all  ancient  races  gave 
men  the  right  to  divorce  their  wives.  Some  ancient  codes 
of  laws  sought  to  regulate  divorce,  so  that  the  husband 
could  not  abandon  a  wife  at  will.  A  long  step  in  advance 
occurred  when  the  husband  was  obliged  to  return  the  dowry 
of  a  wife  that  was  divorced. 

In  the  Middle  Ages,  divorce,  as  well  as  marriage  and  many 
other  personal  relations,  was  controlled  by  the  Church. 
Divorce  was  not  permitted.  The  Reformation  did  not 
make  divorce  much  easier,  although  both  marriage  and 
divorce  were  in  some  countries  brought  under  civil  law  and 
regulated  thereafter  by  the  government. 


PERMANENCE  OF  THE  FAMILY 


83 


In  the  American  colonies  and  in  our  early  national  history 
divorce  was  almost  unknown.  This  was  far  more  a  matter  of 
custom  than  of  law.  Divorced  women  were  almost  ostra- 
cized by  society.  No  matter  how  galling  the  matrimonial 
union,  or  how  real  the  need  of  divorce,  none  except  the 
boldest,  most  independent  spirits  found  the  remedy  better 
than  the  disease. 

81.  Changing  Conditions  which  lead  to  Divorce.  — 
Since  the  Civil  War  the  economic  and  social  organizations 
of  the  American  people  have  changed  greatly.  Whereas 
in  1870  less  than  one  fifth  of  our  people  dwelt  in  cities  or 
villages,  now  more  than  half  of  them  live  in  urban  centers. 
City  life  has  undoubtedly  interfered  with  family  life  in  many 
ways,  not  only  by  preventing  many  families  from  having  their 
own  separate  dwelling,  but  also  through  the  varied  interests 
by  which  the  city  attracts  adults  as  well  as  youths. 

The  development  of  industry  as  well  as  city  business  has 
given  opportunities  to  girls  and  women  as  wage  earners. 
Formerly  there  was  no  work  for  women  outside  of  the  home. 
At  present  one  woman  in  five  is  a  wage  earner  (§  264). 
Store,  shop,  and  factory  offer  an  income,  chances  to  meet 
others,  and  a  relief  from  a  routine  that  threatened  to  become 
monotonous.  Having  incomes  of  their  own,  women  are 
independent  as  they  could  not  have  been  in  the  past.  Mar- 
riage is  no  longer  the  chief  outlet  for  a  young  woman,  nor 
is  the  spinster  any  longer  neglected  or  despised,  as  one 
whom  the  fates  did  not  choose. 

Another  important  change  has  been  the  increase  in  the 
privileges  and  rights  of  women.  The  period  from  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  to  the  Civil  War  was  an  era  of  equalization  of 
rights  for  all  white  men ;  ^  the  last  half  century  has  brought 
to  women  many  of  the  rights  previously  granted  to  men. 
These  have  been  chiefly  legal  rights  to  property,^  but  they 
have  included  also  political  privileges,  for  in  191 7  eleven  states 
had  full  woman  suffrage  and  many  others  gave  partial 
suffrage  to  women.     The  most  valuable  right  of  any  married 

1  Ashley,  American  History,  §  292.  ^  Ibid.,  §  481. 


Regulation 
of  divorce  by 
law  and  cus- 
tom in  our 
early  history. 


Effect  of  citv 
life  on  the 
modem 
family. 


How  busi- 
ness has 
been  draw- 
ing women 
away  from 
the  home. 


Effect  of  an 
increase  in 
social  rights. 


84 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Appalling  in- 
crease of  di- 
vorce in  the 
United 
States. 


woman  would  naturally  be  the  opportunity  to  free  herseif 
from  a  marriage  tie  that  was  objectionable.  Consequently 
the  last  half  century  has  witnessed  an  increase  of  divorce 
that  is  extraordinary. 

82.  Divorce  in  the  United  States  (1867-1906).  —  From 
1867  to  1886  the  divorces  in  the  United  States  numbered 
328,716.  From  1887  to  1906  the  number  increased  to 
900,534.  In  1870  there  were  29  divorces  annually  to  every 
100,000  inhabitants,  by  1880  the  number  had  risen  to  38, 
in  1890  to  53,  in  1900  to  73,  and  in  1906  to  86.     Such  an  in- 


1900 


CD 

UMxa 

^-^^^ 

\///A 

9S 

TO       ,60 

^ 

»0 

76 

Bza 

76 

•       100 

Average  Annual  Number  of  Divorces  for  100,000  Population. 


crease  shows  an  appalling  and  dangerous  unrest.  In  the 
United  States  the  present  rate  of  divorce  is  more  than  twice  as 
high  as  in  any  other  civilized  country  on  the  globe.  Whereas 
Germany  has  only  one  divorce  for  every  fifty  marriages, 
in  the  United  States  there  is  one  divorce  in  every  ten  or 
eleven  marriages.  In  some  western  states  the  rate  of  divorce 
is  nearly  four  times  as  high  as  in  the  whole  United  States, 
at  least  every  third  marriage  ending  in  divorce. 

As  one  would  expect,  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  divorces 
are  granted  to  the  wife,  and  these  usually  come  earlier  than 


PERMANENCE  OF  THE  FAMILY 


8S 


those  granted  to  the  husband.^  This  would  seem  to  indi- 
cate that  social  unrest  among  women  is  a  very  important 
cause  of  divorce.  That  is  not  necessarily  the  case,  however, 
for  desertion  or  cruelty  is  the  reason  given  for  about  two 
thirds  of  the  divorces  granted  to  women.  Fortunately  the 
rate  of  divorce  in  families  that  have  children  is  not  more 
than  a  quarter  as  high  as  it  is  among  childless  couples.  Di- 
vorce is  naturally  a  far  more  serious  evil  to  society  where 
it  leads  to  the  destruction  of  the  home  and  the  separation 
of  children  from  at  least  one  parent.^ 

83.  Remedies  for  the  Divorce  Evil.  —  As  the  increase  of 
divorce  has  been  due  to  social  causes  rather  than  to  our 
laws  relating  to  divorce,  remedies  would  naturally  he  sought 
in  the  causes  which  give  rise  to  divorce.-  Most  attempts  to 
solve  the  divorce  problem,  however,  have  dealt  chiefly  with 
laws.  Since  many  states  have  had  lenient  divorce  laws, 
they  have  attracted  people  who  wish  legal  separation  from 
their  mates.  A  quarter  century  ago  some  of  the  prairie 
states  were  the  Meccas  of  dissatisfied  husbands  or  wives. 
Temporary  residence  and  almost  any  pretext  resulted  in 
divorce.  No  notice  was  sent  to  the  one  from  whom  divorce 
was  sought. 

To  remedy  this  glaring  evil  of  "  overnight  divorces  " 
a  national  divorce  law  was  sought.  As  none  was  passed, 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  decided  that  di- 
vorces could  not  be  given  by  any  state  except  to  a  bona  fide 
resident  of  that  state,  and  that  the  party  from  whom  di- 

1  More  divorces  are  granted  to  wives  who  have  been  married  from  three  to 
four  years  than  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period,  whereas  the  maximum  number 
of  divorces  granted  to  husbands  came  at  the  end  of  six  years  of  married  life. 

2  Professor  Emory  S.  Bogardus  of  the  University  of  Southern  California  has 
made  a  careful  study  of  the  connection  between  broken  homes  and  deUnquent 
children.  In  Los  Angeles  County,  he  finds  that  the  percentage  of  poverty  and 
delinquency  is  less  than  half  as  high  among  the  children  from  ordinary  homes 
as  it  is  from  those  whose  parents  are  divorced,  or  are  not  living  together. 
Moreover,  he  finds  that  the  broken  home  loses  control  of  its  girls  even  more 
than  of  its  boys.  The  records  of  the  juvenile  court  do  not  give  the  names  of 
many  girls  from  regular  homes,  but  they  contain  the  names  of  large  numbers 
of  girls  from  divided  families.  The  protection  of  the  children  demands  some 
reform  of  at  least  the  most  glaring  divorce  evils. 


Character 
of  the  di- 
vorces 
granted  in 
this  country. 


Past  at- 
tempt to 
cure  the  di- 
vorce evil 
through 
laws. 


How  greater 
uniformity 
in  divorce 
"legislation" 
was  sought 
and  ob- 
tained. 


86 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Some  sug- 
gestions on 
real  reme- 
dies by 
checking 
causes  of 
divorce. 


vorce  was  sought  must  be  notified.  A  national  divorce  law,  or 
at  least  greater  uniformity  in  our  diverse  laws  regarding  di- 
vorce, is  still  desired  by  many  people.  Others  contend  that 
the  trouble  is  not  with  the  law  but  with  the  lax  adminis- 
tration of  the  law  and  the  differing  pubHc  sentiment  about 
divorce  in  different  communities. 

Most  of  the  social  causes  (§  8i)  which  lead  to  divorce  are 
not  easily  controlled  because  they  are  connected  with  im- 
portant social  movements.  As  these  inevitably  continue, 
it  is  not  easy  to  stop  the  growth  of  divorce  by  checking  the 
cause.  However,  something  can  be  done  and  is  being  done. 
Better  marriage  laws  are  needed,  e.g.  laws  which  make  it 
impossible  for  mental  and  physical  defectives  to  marry. 
The  universal  use  of  licenses,  a  longer  period  of  waiting  be- 
fore Hcenses  are  granted,  and  more  responsibility  upon  those 
who  perform  marriage  ceremonies  are  some  of  the  legal  safe- 
guards which  might  reduce  the  number  of  unsatisfactory 
marriages.  Something  can  be  done  by  more  education  on 
the  subject  of  the  home  and  the  importance  of  marriage; 
still  more  by  greater  care  in  the  selection  of  mates  and  a  better 
reahzation  of  the  place  filled  by  the  home  and  the  family  in 
our  civilization  to-day.  Courts  of  domestic  relations  which 
seek  to  reconcile  dissatisfied  husbands  and  wives,  more 
careful  investigation  of  cases  by  judges,  and  more  stringent 
regulations  to  prevent  remarriage  are  among  means  used  to 
maintain  the  permanence  of  the  home  and  the  family. 


Why  the 
family  is  an 
economic 
unit. 


The  Household  as  an  Economic  Unit 

84.  Economic  Position  of  the  Family.  —  In  the  United 
States  there  are  nearly  twenty  miUion  famiUes.  Most  of 
these  families  are  self-supporting  groups  which  provide 
themselves  with  such  necessities,  comforts,  and  luxuries  as 
they  may  wish  or  can  afford.  Each  of  these  millions  of 
families  earns  its  own  income,  looks  after  itself,  and  pays  its 
own  expenses.  Usually  one  person,  the  father,  is  the  wage 
earner  for  this  group,  although  other  older  members  fre- 
quently pay  some  share  of  the  family  expenses.    In  short, 


THE  HOUSEHOLD 


87 


in  this  difficult  and  interesting  business  of  making  a  living, 
the  family  is  a  self-supporting  group,  a  prominent  economic 
unit  in  modern  society.  In  the  consumption  of  wealth  the 
family  is  far  more  important  than  any  other  group,  and  in- 
comparably more  important  than  isolated  individuals. 

During  the  colonial  period,  as  in  ancient  and  medieval 
times,  each  family  was  a  distinct  producing  unit  as  well  as 
consuming  unit.  On  the  farm  the  father  raised  his  crops, 
or  in  a  shop  close  to  his  house  he  made  goods  which  he 
traded  or  sold  to  his  neighbors.  Those  were  the  days  of 
real  "  household  economy  "  or  industry,  each  family  being 
a  real  economic  and  almost  self-sufficing  unit.  As  the  sons 
grew  to  manhood,  they  helped  the  father  until  they  married 
and  established  homes  of  their  own. 

85.  Size  of  American  Families.  —  In  colonial  times,  since 
labor  was  scarce,  the  more  children  there  were,  the  more 
workers  were  provided.  Large  families  were  an  advantage. 
Families  of  six  or  eight  children  were  the  rule.  Because 
land  was  abundant,  living  was  plain,  and  luxuries  were  not 
to  be  expected,  the  boys  and  girls  earned  their  own  way  by 
the  time  they  were  thirteen. 

The  normal  American  family  to-day  consists  of  five 
members,  the  average  number  of  children  having  dropped 
to  three  per  family.  Land  is  no  longer  plentiful,  and  labor 
is  no  longer  scarce.  Young  people  do  not  expect  to  earn 
their  own  living  until  they  are  fifteen,  twenty,  or  even 
twenty-five.  Comforts  and  luxuries  are  demanded  by  all. 
For  the  average  family  a  large  number  of  children  means  a 
lower  standard  of  living.  "  In  1903  the  United  States  com- 
missioner of  labor  reported  on  11,156  families  of  working- 
men.  In  the  families  with  one  child,  the  average  annual 
income  per  person  was  $212.76;  in  the  families  with  three 
children,  the  average  was  $133.18;  while  in  the  families 
with  five  children,  the  average  income  per  person  was  $94.97."  * 
Yet  it  is  among  the  workingmen  rather  than  in  wealthier 
homes  that  large  families  are  found. 

1  Nearing,  Social  Adjustment,  p.  151. 


The  early 
American 
home  as  an 
almost  com- 
plete eco- 
nomic unit. 


Advantage  of 
large  fami- 
lies in  colo- 
nial times. 


Disadvan- 
tages of  large 
famiUes  of 
workingmen 
to-day. 


88 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Incomes  of 
the  average 
wage  earner 
and  the  aver- 
age family. 


Low  incomes 
and  stand- 
ards of  living 
among  some 
negroes  and 
among  Eu- 
ropeans. 


The  great 
wealth  and 
large  income 
of  many 
Americans. 


The  distinc- 
tion between 
real  wages 
and  money 
wages. 


86.  Family  Income.  —  Although  prices  "have  risen  greatly 
in  recent  years,  wages  have  risen  also.  The  average  wage 
earner,  unskilled  or  partly  skilled,  now  earns  nearly  $1200 
annually.  As  others  in  his  family  usually  contribute  some- 
thing during  the  course  of  the  year,  the  average  family  income 
of  the  poorest  seventy-five  per  cent  of  American  families  may 
he  said  to  he  at  least  fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  year.  This 
would  give  an  income  of  about  $300  for  each  member,  if  the 
famiUes  were  not  larger  than  the  average.  If  the  addition 
to  the  father's  income,  however,  is  made  by  the  mother  of 
small  children,  at  work  which  takes  her  much  of  the  time 
from  the  home,  it  represents  a  social  cost  which  far  out- 
balances the  sum  earned  by  her. 

Averages  are  of  course  misleading,  for  about  a  third  .of 
these  famihes  do  not  receive  more  than  $700  a  year.^  Many 
of  these,  however,  are  poor  colored  families  of  the  South,  in 
sections  in  which  the  cost  of  living  is  low.  Even  these 
incomes  are  large  if  compared  with  those  of  the  peasant  or 
artisan  of  Europe.  In  Prussia,  it  is  asserted,  four  fifths  of 
the  famiUes  have  supported  life  on  less  than  $400  a  year  and 
94  per  cent  on  less  than  $750  annually. 

On  the  other  hand,  according  to  returns  from  our  national 
income  tax,  nearly  eight  thousand  Americans  admit  that 
they  are  millionaires,  and  nearly  four  hundred  thousand 
have  net  incomes  of  more  than  four  thousand  dollars  a  year. 
Some  authorities  believe  that  a  half  milhon  families  in  the 
United  States  have  incomes  which  make  them  subject  to 
the  income  tax  of  19 13. 

87.  Expenditure  of  Family  Income.  —  Incomes  are  to 
be  measured  less  in  dollars  than  in  the  amount  which  those 
dollars  will  purchase.  If  wages  or  incomes  have  risen  more 
rapidly  than  prices,  then  real  wages  or  incomes  are  higher 
than  they  were ;  but,  if  wages  have  gone  up  a  little  and  prices 
have  gone  up  more,  then  real  wages  are  lower  than  they 
have  been.     Real  wages  are  undouhtedly  much  higher  than 

1  According  to  King  only  }  were  so  low  as  $500  in  1910.  King,  Wealth  and 
Income,  p.  224.     Most  of  these  were  very  small  "  families." 


THE  HOUSEHOLD  89 

they  were  three  quarters  of  a  century  ago  and  about  the 
same  as  they  were  twenty  years  ago.^ 

After  all,  it  is  not  the  amount  of  the  income  but  the  actual  Why  the 
use  of  the  income  which  determines  the  economic  position  of  f/^'^^g^  l^^' 

ilv  socnds 

the  family.     If  families  of  workingmen  are  obliged  to  spend  much  for 
55  per  cent  for  food,  15  to  20  per  cent  for  shelter,  and  10  to  necessaries 
15  per  cent  for  clothing,  they  will  have  less  than  20  per  cent  fuxuriesf 
for  all  other  comforts  and  for  all  luxuries.     What  is  saved 
must  be  saved  out  of  that  small  possible  surplus,  certainly 
at  great  sacrifice.     The  larger  the  family,  the  smaller  the 
remainder  for  comforts,  and  the  smaller  the  chance  of  laying 
up  a  little  for  a  rainy  day. 

Considering  the  fact  that  most  families  do  save  little  for  Specific 
comforts,  we  are  surprised  to  learn  that  not  less  than  one  ^^^se^of 
quarter  of  the  total  sum  spent  for  food  and  clothing  might  using  food 
be  saved,  with  a  little  knowledge,  skill,  and  care.     Waste  or  clothing. 
occurs  in  the  buying  of  food  in  small  quantities,  in  the  selec- 
tion of  poor  goods,  and  in  the  purchase  of  foods  of  little 
nutritive  value.     Even  more  is  wasted  in  the  cooking  and 
serving.     There  is  even  greater  waste  in  the  purchase  of 
clothing.     Our  schools   should   teach  boys  and  girls,   and 
mothers  if  they  wish,  how  to  make  a  little  go  farther  in  real 
values. 

Many  mothers  display  wonderful  skill  in  making  family  why  family 
purchases.     Is  it  not  a  pity  that  all  mothers  have  not  received  g^°^°^^g 
the  training  which  might  make  the  average  $400  spent  for  furthered  by 
food  go  as  far  as  $500  does  at  present?     Would  not  society  education. 
be  far  more  than  repaid  for  the  cost,  if  they  were  trained  in 
scientific  household  management?     Considering  the  num- 
ber of  underfed  and  half-starved  children  and  adults  in  the 
United  States,  the  failure  of  society  to  give  better  prepara- 
tion for  the  use  of  wealth  seems  almost  criminal. 

88.    Standards   of  Living.  —  The   comforts   and  luxuries  Living  wages 
which  are  purchased  by  any  family  for  its  own  satisfaction  ^^^^^^^^^ 
represent  that  family's  standard  of   living.     If    the  family  caused 
income  provides  only  bare  necessaries,  we  speak  of  the  father  by  drink,  etc. 

1  See  chart,  page  343. 


go 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Society 
should  raise 
low  stand- 
ards of  living 
through  ed- 
ucation. 


Dififerent 
"  occupa- 
tional " 
standards. 
The  cost  of 
high  Uving. 


Why  society 
shQuld  find  a 
real  remedy, 
not  charity, 
for  indus- 
trial victims. 


as  earning  a  "  living  wage.'^  Sometimes  expenditures  are 
so  unwise  that  an  income  which  should  have  furnished  a 
good  standard  is  too  small  to  cover  real  necessities.  Poverty 
and  low  standards  are  often  caused  by  drink,  even  if  the  wage 
earner  is  not  thrown  out  of -employment.  If  a  quarter  of  a 
small  income  is  spent  for  ornate  dress,  food  will  probably  be 
scarce  in  the  household. 

It  is  amazing  how  many  school  children  in  large  cities, 
particularly  in  the  lower  grades,  come  to  school  without 
breakfast,  or  so  insufficiently  nourished  or  clad  that  they 
cannot  study.  Such  low  standards  of  living  as  their  homes 
have  are  a  menace  to  our  welfare,  since  they  deny  to  many 
children  the  opportunity  to  prepare  themselves  for  life  work 
by  which  they  may  provide  properly  for  their  own  families 
in  later  years. 

In  no  other  country  do  so  many  people  enjoy  a  high  stand- 
ard of  living  as  in  the  United  States.  As  a  race  we  are 
notoriously  extravagant  in  our  expenditures.  One  quarter 
of  our  people,  having  incomes  which  make  the  necessaries  of 
life  a  comparatively  minor  item,  demand  luxuries  which 
only  the  wealthy  can  afford.  The  man  employed  in  office 
or  store  of  necessity  dresses  very  much  better  than  an  artisan 
or  day  laborer,  but  he  finds  that  his  high  cost  of  living  is 
really  represented  to  a  very  large  extent  by  his  family's 
desire  to  live  in  a  good  neighborhood  and  do  all  of  the  things 
that  his  neighbors  do.  In  191 6  there  were  nearly  three 
million  automobiles  in  use  in  this  country,  or  one  for  every 
thirty-five  persons,  very  many  having  been  purchased  with 
borrowed  money.  As  has  been  so  aptly  said,  the  high  cost 
of  living  in  recent  years  has  been  due  to  the  cost  of  high 
living. 

89.  Financial  Problems  of  Industrial  Victims.  —  Prob- 
lems which  are  more  or  less  theoretical  under  normal  condi- 
tions become  serious  under  unusual  circumstances.  The 
family  income  which  may  have  been  $1000  at  once  becomes 
$300  or  less  if  the  chief  wage  earner  dies  or  becomes  incapaci- 
tated for  work.    When  hard  times  come  on  and  employment  is 


THE  HOUSEHOLD 


91 


irregular,  again  the  income  falls  far  below  normal.  The 
question  arises,  "  What  does  society  do  for  these  unfortu- 
nates? "  We  must  admit  that  very  little  has  been  done 
in  the  past.  If  they  are  reduced  to  abject  poverty,  private 
charity  as  well  as  public  help  may  relieve  hunger  and  keep 
a  roof  over  their  heads.  These  are  not  preventive  measures, 
but  remedies  which  do  not  remove  any  cause  or  give  any 
permanent  relief. 

Within  recent  years  there  has  been  a  growing  interest 
in  suffering  that  is  caused  by  our  complex  industrial  system. 
Formerly,  when  a  workman  was  injured  or  killed,  the  whole 
loss  was  borne  by  his  family.  To-day,  in  most  American 
states,  society  bears  a  share  through  workingmen's  compen- 
sation (§  269).  In  some  countries  attempts  have  been 
made  to  reduce  unemployment,  but  as  yet  Httle  has  been 
attempted  for  the  unemployed  in  the  United  States  (§  270). 
Some  countries  prescribe  a  minimum  living  wage  that  shall 
be  paid  to  men.  Since  wages  are  high  in  this  country,  regu- 
lation for  that  purpose  has  not  been  attempted.  We  have 
been  content  to  establish  minimum  wages  for  girls  who 
presumably  are  away  from  home,  making  possible  for  them 
a  decent. standard  of  living  (§  266). 

90.  Women  and  the  Future  Home.  —  The  changing  home 
of  the  nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries  reflects  changing 
social  and  economic  conditions.  As  we  noticed  above 
(§§  5ij  55)  81))  new  industries  and  occupations  sooner  or 
later  bring  social  changes.  The  self-supporting  colonial 
home,  with  its  large  number  of  children,  was  natural  in  a 
primitive  community  in  which  land  was  abundant,  famiUes 
were  separated,  and  labor  was  scarce.  As  in  the  ancient 
patriarchal  family,  the  rule  of  the  head  of  the  family  was 
autocratic.  Until  the  children  separated  to  estabhsh 
homes  of  their  own,  there  were  no  occupations  which  tended 
to  break  up  the  home.  Since  household  or  home  duties  were 
the  sole  occupation  of  women,  the  best  they  could  do  was  to 
change  from  the  drudgery  and  harsh  rule  of  a  father's  house 
to  similar  drudgery  and  narrow  life  in  that  of  a  husband. 


Some  relief 

or  preventive 

measures 

used  in  some 

civilized 

countries 

to-day. 


Why  the 
home  of  our 
"fore- 
fathers" was 
not  a  good 
home  for  a 
woman. 


92 


THE   NEW  CIVICS 


THE  HOME  AND   FAMILY  93 

The  old  t3Ape  of  home  cannot  be  reestabhshed  any  more  Why  the  new 
than  Europe  after  181 5  could  go  back  to  the  "  old  regime  "   ^^^^  ^^°"^^ 
which  existed  before  the  French    Revolution.      Nor  is  it   than  the  old 
desirable  that  the  old  home  should  be  reestablished.     What   home, 
is  necessary  is  that  the  new  home,  the  home  of  the  future, 
shall  be  better  than  those  of  the  past  and  of  the  present. 
Other  things  being  equal,  it  certainly  will  be  better  if  social 
conditions  do  not  force  women  to  marry.     Certainly  homes 
based  on  real  love  and  affection,  homes  in  which  the  mother 
as  well  as  the  father  is  really  a  free  agent,  guarded  in  her  rights 
by  law  and  custom,  will  be  better  than  one  in  which  she  was 
little  better  than  a  housekeeper  or  upper  servant.     It  does 
not  follow  that  the  modern  woman,  with  her  manifold  rights 
and  interests,  even  with  her  opportunities  to  be  a  worker 
outside  of  the  home,  will  be  a  less  capable  mother  than 
her  own  great-grandmother.     If  she  is,  so  important  is  the 
home,  the  clock  of  civilization  will  be  set  far  backward. 

General  References 

Blackmar  and  Gillen,  Outlines  of  Sociology,  11 2-156. 
Ell  wood,  Sociology  and  Modern  Social  Problems. 
Wright,  Outlines  of  Practical  Sociology,! $1-222. 
Dealey,  The  Family  in  Its  Sociological  Aspects. 
Thwing,  The  Family,  an  Historical  and  Social  Study. 

Topics 

Standards  of  Living:  Nearing,  5oaa/  Adjustment,  70-102;  King, 
Wealth  and  Income  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  217-255  ;  Nearing, 
Reducing  the  Cost  of  Living,  41-102 ;  Streightoff,  Standard  of  Living  in 
the  United  States ;  Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.),  Materials  for  the 
Study  of  Elementary  Economics,  27-41. 

Increase  of  Divorce  :  Blackmar  and  Gillen,  Outlines  of  Sociology, 
138-156;  EUwood,  Sociology  and  Modern  Sociological  Problems,  113- 
137;  Stevens,  E.  R.,  'm  Outlook,  86  (1907),  237-243,  287-293;  Howard, 
G.  E.,  in  McClure's  Magazine,  34  (1909),  232-242;  Lichtenberger, 
"Marriage  and  Divorce^'  (Columbia  University  Studies). 

The  Expenditure  of  Family  Income  :  StreightoflF,  F.  H.,  in  Ma- 
terials for  the  Study  of  Elementary  Economics,  27-33;  Nearing,  Woman 
and  Social  Progress,  171-195,  Good  Housekeeping,  51  (1910),  9-15, 
Financing  a  Wage  Earner's  Family,  133-167. 


94  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

Studies 

1.  Marriage  customs  in  many  lands  to-day,  in  National  Geographic 
Magazine. 

2.  The  right  to  marry.  Meyer,  A.,  M.D.,  in  Survey,  36  (1916),  243- 
246. 

3.  Social  control  of  the  domestic  relations.  Howard,  G.  E.,  in 
American  Journal  of  Sociology,  16  (191 1),  805-817. 

4.  How  much  does  the  average  family  earn  ?  King,  Wealth  and  In- 
come of  People  of  the  United  States,  222-238. 

5.  Changing  conditions  which  lead  to  divorce.  EUwood,  Sociology 
and  Modern  Social  Problems. 

6.  Causes  of  divorce.    Wolfe,  Readings  in  Social  Problems,  621-649. 

7.  Casting  out  divorce  in  Kansas  City.  Cooper,  C.  R.,  in  Ladies' 
Home  Journal,  31  (1914),  20. 

8.  EfiEect  of  broken  homes  on  juvenile  failure.  Bogardus,  A  Study 
of  Juvenile  Delinquency  and  Dependency  in  Los  Angeles  County. 

9.  The  socialization  of  the  home.  Tarbell,  The  Business  of  Being  a 
Woman,  84-108. 

10.   Chicago  Court  of  Domestic  Relations.    Tarbell,  I.  M.,  in  Ameri- 
can Magazine,  77  (191 1),  42-48. 

Questions 

1.  Explain  the  difference  between  marriage  in  the  distant  past  and 
in  the  present  ?  What  are  some  of  the  objections  to  polygamous  mar- 
riages ?  Why  do  lax  divorce  laws  expose  modern  families  to  many  of 
the  same  disadvantages? 

2.  Show  that  society  should  regulate  marriage.  To  what  extent  is 
marriage  regulated  to-day  by  custom  ?  by  statutes  ?  by  the  whim  of  the 
parties  who  are  marrying? 

3.  What  is  the  effect  of  large  families  on  the  workingman's  standard 
of  living?  For  what  do  workingmen's  families  spend  most  money?  Is 
the  cost  of  clothing  for  the  average  high  school  girl  too  high?  Show 
how  wastes  may  be  eliminated  in  the  purchase,  cooking,  and  use  of  foods. 

4.  Explain  fully  changes  in  conditions  during  the  last  half  century 
which  lead  to  divorce.  Which  have  been  most  influential,  those  that 
are  political  or  economic  or  social? 

5.  How  would  these  things  help  to  solve  the  divorce  problem  :  im- 
prove character  of  those  who  marry,  stricter  marriage  laws,  a  definite 
monthly  allowance  for  a  wife,  more  care  in  investigating  and  deciding 
divorce  suits? 

6.  How  is  the  modern  woman  better  off  than  the  woman  of  a  cen- 
tury ago?  Why  should  the  modern  home  be  better  than  the  old  home? 
Why  is  the  movement  for  the  best  possible  homes  an  important  topic  in 
the  new  civics? 


PART   II 
GOVERNMENT  AND   THE   CITIZEN 


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96 


CHAPTER  VI 
SUFFRAGE  AND   ELECTIONS 

91.   Popular  Cooperation  in    Government.  —  As   we   no-  Why  all 
ticed  in  the  first  section  of  this  book,  the  ordinary  citizen  "^^^ens  do 
must  not  be  confused  with  the  voter.     The  citizen  is  a  mem-   direct  and 
ber  of  the  nation  who  may  or  may  not  share  in  the  work  of  f ctive  share 
governing.     The  voter,  on  the  contrary,  is  a  member  of  ^ent^^"^' 
the  nation  who  takes  an  active  part  in  the  work  of  government. 
Important  as  government  is,  we  discovered  in  Part  I  that 
it  is  after  all  only  a  small  part  of  the  work  of  a  nation  and 
of  a  nation's  citizens.     It  is  not  necessary,  therefore,  that 
every  citizen  should  have  a  share  in  government,  nor  would 
it  be  wise  to  give  such  a  share  to  those  persons  whose  youth, 
ignorance,   or  inexperience   would  make   them   undesirable 
voters.     Only  those  citizens,^  therefore,  are  voters  who  are 
actively  interested  in  the  public  work  of  society  and  who 
presumably  are  capable  of  governing  the  city,  state,  or  nation 
intelligently. 

Manifestly  it  would  be  impossible  for  all  voters  to  make  Selection 
laws,  enforce  order,  and  decide  judicial  disputes.     Conse-  and  removal 

'  -  '         ,  .         ,.  ^  .of  offiaals. 

quently  the  voters  select  certam  direct  representatives 
whom  we  may  call  elected  officials.  Naturally  the  most 
important  public  offices  are  filled  by  election,  but  the  elected 
officials  are  far  outnumbered  by  appointed  officials  ^  or  em- 

1  Citizens  or  prospective  citizens. 

2  The  system  of  appointment  is  used  much  more  in  connection  with  the 
national  government  than  with  those  of  the  states,  counties,  cities,  and  towns. 
Only  the  President,  Vice  President,  and  members  of  Congress  are  elected  directly 
or  indirectly  by  popular  vote.  All  national  judges  and  national  executive 
oflBcials  and  employees,  numbering  nearly  five  hundred  thousand,  are  appointed. 
Members  of  lawmaking  bodies  are  invariably  elected  by  the  people.  These  include 
congressmen,  state  legislators,  city  councilmen,  county  supervisors,  and  town 
selectmen.     Election  is  used  for  almost  aU  state  or  local  judges,  and  for  the 

H  97 


98 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Direct  legis- 
lation and 
public  influ- 
ence. 


ployees.  In  many  states  the  voters  retain  the  right  to 
remove  any  official  who  fails  to  represent  them  properly 
or  to  do  his  duty  as  the  public  desires.  This  right  is  often 
exercised  in  the  form  of  the  recall  (§121). 

When  the  officials  of  the  government  fail  to  give  the 
people  such  constitutions  and  laws  as  the  public  wish,  the 
people  may  propose  laws,  through  the  initiative  (§  116). 
They  also  insist  that  they  shall  have  the  last  as  well  as  the 
first  share  in  lawmaking,  a  form  of  popular  cooperation  in 
government  known  as  the  referendum  (§117).  In  addition 
all  citizens,  especially  those  belonging  to  organized  groups, 
such  as  churches,  national  societies,  or  labor  unions,  exercise 
an  immense  influence  on  government  through  public  opinion. 


rhe  legisla- 
tive caucuses 
and  the  first 
nominating 
convention. 


Nominations  for  Elective  Office 

92.  History  of  Nominations.^  —  Nominations  for  elec- 
tive offices  to-day  are  made  directly  or  indirectly  by  the 
people,  but  this  has  not  always  been  the  case.  In  the  early 
years  of  this  republic  there  was  no  regular  method  of  nomi- 
nating candidates  for  public  office,  nor  was  there  any  ma- 
chinery for  that  purpose.  Nominations  were  made  ordi- 
narily by  a  group  of  office  holders,  possibly  members  of 
Congress  or  a  state  legislature,  who  held  a  caucus  and  placed 
in  nomination  one  of  their  friends,  usually  another  office 
holder. 

most  important  executive  and  administrative  officials  of  the  states  and  localities. 
Yet  the  persons  appointed  for  state  or  local  positions,  aside  from  those 
coimected  with  schools,  probably  outnumber  the  elected  officials  three  to  one. 
Not  all  persons  connected  with  any  government  are  called  officials,  for  most 
of  them  are  merely  employees  whose  work  involves  comparatively  little  re- 
sponsibility. 

1  When  voters  go  to  the  polls  and  cast  their  ballots,  they  vote  only  for  those 
who  have  been  nominated  for  that  office.  These  nominations  are  made  several 
weeks  before  the  election  either  by  conventions  held  by  the  political  parties  or 
more  frequently  in  direct  primaries  of  the  voters  composing  the  political  parties. 
In  the  campaign,  between  the  nominations  and  the  election,  these  nominees  or 
candidates,  aided  by  the  very  complete  organization  of  their  party,  make  every 
effort  to  win  over  the  voters  to  their  side.  After  the  voters  have  expressed 
their  preference  in  the  election,  the  successful  candidates  are  installed  in  office 
upon  the  day  set  by  law  for  assuming  their  new  duties. 


NOMINATIONS  99 

This  government  of  office  holders,  chosen  by  office  holders  Beginnings 
and  managed  for  office  holders,  did  not  satisfy  the  American  °^  primaries 
people  after  the  War  of  181 2,  because  the  people  were  be-  ing  conven- 
coming  more  democratic.     Consequently,  about  the  time  tions. 
that  Jackson  was  elected  President,  those  who  were  not  in 
office   devised  a  plan  of  having  delegates  from  different 
townships  within   the  county,   or  from  different  coimties 
within  the  state,  meet  together  in  a  nominating  convention, 
which  selected  a  candidate  for  each  office  to  represent  their 
party.     Before  the  Civil  War  the  nominating  convention 
had  been  adopted  by  all  political  parties.     Delegates  to 
these  conventions  were  usually  chosen,  however,  in  each 
precinct,  township,  or  county  by  a  small  clique  of  dependable 
party  men.     The  party  delegates  were  supposed  to  be  elected 
in  a  public  primary,  but  the  primary  always  represented  the 
ruHng  clique  of  the  party,  that  is,  the  machine  (§  106). 

In  order  to  give  the  party  members  real  control  of  their  Use  of  pri- 
delegates  and  conventions,  it  was  necessary  to  reform  the  J^^iyelec- 
primary.  To  break  the  hold  of  the  machine  upon  the 
primary  and  the  convention,  the  primary  was  brought 
under  the  control  of  the  state  governments,  and  regular  pri- 
mary elections  were  held  at  such  times  as  the  law  permitted. 
The  law  prescribes  also  who  may  take  part  in  the  primary 
elections  of  any  party. 

93.  Primary  Elections.  —  At  the  present  time  practically  General 
all  states  provide  that  nominations  for  elective  offices  shall  character  of 
be  made,  not  by  conventions  of  party  delegates,  but  by  the 
voters  in  direct  primary  ^  elections.  Some  weeks  before 
any  election,  on  a  day  set  by  law,  an  election  is  held  similar 
to  a  regular  election.  Instead  of  having,  however,  a  single 
ballot  for  all  parties,  each  party  has  a  separate  ballot.  Only 
those  voters  are  allowed  to  take  part  in  this  election  who 
have  affiliated  themselves  openly  with  some  party.  Each 
voter  receives  a  single  ballot  —  that  of  his  party. 

1  Primaries  are  of  two  kinds,  the  older  or  indirect  (§  92)  and  the  more  recent 
or  direct.  When  delegates  only  are  chosen  at  a  primary  election,  the  election  is 
not  a  direct  primary. 


pnmaiy. 


lOO 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Procedure 
in  direct 
primary  elec- 
tions. 


A  reformed 
national 
nominating 
convention. 


The  names  of  all  those  persons  who  desire  or  will  accept 
the  nomination  for  any  office  must  first  be  placed  on  file  with 
the  city  or  county  clerk,  as  soon  as  they  have  obtained  the 
signatures  of  the  required  number  of  voters.  On  the  pri- 
mary ballot  of  each  party  appear  the  names  of  those  who  are 
the  candidates  of  that  party  for  each  office  to  be  voted  upon 
at  the  later  regular  election.  At  this  primary  election  the 
voters  of  each  party,  therefore,  are  allowed  to  select  their 
candidate  for  each  ofiice  to  be  filled  at  the  coming  election. 
Since  no  voter  can  vote  more  than  one  ticket,  and  each  ticket 
represents  a  different  party,  members  of  one  party  are  not 
allowed  to  influence  the  nominations  to  be  made  by  an- 
other. The  candidate  of  each  party  who  receives  a  larger 
number  of  votes  than  any  other  candidate  or  candidates  of 
the  same  party  for  the  same  office  is  declared  the  nominee 
of  that  party  for  that  office,  and  his  name  appears  as  such 
on  the  official  ballot  used  in  the  general  election.  This  sys- 
tem gives  the  voters  a  somewhat  freer  choice  than  the  old 
party  primary,  but  it  does  not  produce  satisfactory  results 
unless  they  vote  and  vote  intelligently. 

The  direct  primary  has  superseded  the  convention  in  the 
selection  of  party  nominees  for  most  positions  filled  by  pop- 
ular election  except  the  most  important  elective  office  in 
America,  that  of  the  President  of  the  United  States.  Na- 
tional nominating  conventions  of  each  party  are  still  held 
in  June  or  July  of  the  "  presidential  year."  The  delegates 
to  these  national  conventions  cannot  be  chosen  in  a  direct 
nominating  primary,  but  they  are  usually  selected  in  a 
regular  primary  election  (§  92),  in  order  that  the  influence 
of  the  political  party  machine  may  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.- 

^  Where  presidential  delegates  are  chosen  in  the  primary,  a  system  of  "prefer- 
ential" voting  may  be  used.  The  voters  of  each  party  of  each  congressional 
district  are  allowed  not  only  to  select  delegates  to  represent  them  in  the  national 
nominating  convention  of  their  party,  but  they  may  name  their  first  choice  and 
possibly  their  second  choice  of  a  party  candidate  for  President. 

The  presidential  preferential  primary  has  been  adopted  by  nearly  half  the 
states  at  the  present  time.  Many  people  have  beUeved  that  it  was  a  panacea 
for  the  evils  whieh  formerly  existed  in  the  nomination  of  a  President  and  a 
Vice  President,  but  in  practice  it  has  been  found  that  the  voters  usually  select 


NOMINATIONS 


Ipl^^/.'i  \\\  \  ;; 


94.  Importance  of  the  Direct  Primary.  —  It  would  natu-   Comparison 
rally  be  supposed  that  every  voter  would  attend  the  pri-  of  primaries 

.  V  •  n    1       •       T    .1  1      1  1  •  1  •  •         and  elections 

manes  to  which  he  is  eligible,  because  his  only  opportunities 
of  securing  good  men  for  office  are  at  the  primaries  and  at 
the  polls  on  election  day.^  At  the  election,  his  choice  will 
be  limited  to  the  different  party  candidates  that  have  been 
nominated,  all  of  whom  may  be  unsatisfactory;  but  at  the 
primaries  he  may  aid  in  selecting  the  best  man  who  will 
accept  the  nomination  as  his  party's  candidate  for  each 
office.  In  reality,  the  primary  gives  him  a  much  better 
opportunity  to  obtain  good  government  than  the  election 
does.  Nevertheless,  the  majority  of  the  voters  in  the 
United  States  neglect  to  attend  the  primaries,  or  go  only 
to  confirm  the  nominees  proposed  by  the  machine  of  their 
party.  The  machine  undoubtedly  knows  better  than  the 
average  voter  who  will  make  good  candidates,  but  sometimes 
a  machine  proposes  unfit  m.en  who  will  not  act  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  party.  It  is  of  the  first  importance,  therefore, 
that  every  voter  attend  the  primaries  of  his  party,  and  make 
sure  that  the  right  men  are  nominated  for  office. 

Many  of  the  states  make  use  of  the  direct  primary  to  Party  control 
increase  public  control  of  the  party  organizations,  forcing  the   by»  and  party 
parties  to  choose  their  committees  (§  io6)  at  these  primary   direct  prima- 
elections.     This  should  produce  party  organizations  which  ries. 
are  fairly  representative  of  the  members  of  the  party.     There 
is  little  doubt  that  many  of  the  vexed,  problems  of  nomina- 
tions for  elective  office  will  be  solved  by  perfecting  and 
reforming  the  party  organization,  and,  except  in  city  elec- 
tions, by  making  the  party  organizations  more  directly  re- 
sponsible for  all  party  nominations,  since  the  machines  will     . 
always  suggest  the  names  of  candidates. 

95.  A  National  Nominating  Convention.  —  The  national 
conventions  of  the  different  parties  meet  in  some  conven- 

the  delegates  suggested  by  the  machine  and  leave  them  uninstructed  in  order 
that  they  may  vote  in  the  convention  for  the  candidate  whom  they  consider 
the  wisest  party  choice. 

1  Many  states  provide  that,  if  one  candidate  has  a  majority  of  all  votes  cast 
in  the  direct  primary,  he  is  elected,  not  nominated. 


lOi 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


NOMINATIONS 


103 


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THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Influence  of 
the  national 
committee 
on  the  con- 
vention. 


Method  of 
nominating 
a  presiden- 
tial candi- 
date. 


iently  located  and  important  city  in  June  or  July  of  the 
presidential  year.  The  day  and  place  have  been  decided 
by  the  national  committee  of  the  party  (§  io6).  In  fact,  the 
national  committee  really  manages  the  convention,  because 
if  any  state  sends  two  sets  of  delegates  to  the  same  party 
convention,  it  decides  in  advance  which  delegation  has 
really  been  elected.  In  doing  this  it  naturally  favors  its 
friends.  In  addition,  the  national  committee  usually  has 
also  drawn  up  a  tentative  platform  which  embodies  the 
ideas  of  the  committee,  of  course,  rather  than  those  of  the 
convention.  When  the  convention  meets,  it  selects  a  tem- 
porary chairman  and  several  committees  which  approve  or 
disapprove  the  decisions  on  the  credentials  of  delegates  and 
suggestions  on  the  platform  made  by  the  national  committee. 
When  the  convention  has  adopted  a  platform  setting  forth 
the  principles  of  the  party,  the  roll  of  the  states  is  called  and 
nominations  are  then  in  order.  Even  when  there  is  no 
doubt  about  which  presidential  candidate  will  be  chosen, 
the  names  of  favorite  sons  from  different  states  are  often 
placed  in  nomination  and  receive  complimentary  votes  on 
the  first  ballot.  Ordinarily  from  five  to  ten  contestants 
enter  the  field  for  the  prize,  each  of  whom  is  nominated  in 
a  laudatory  speech  followed  by  prolonged  applause.  The 
nominations  having  been  closed,  the  roll  of  thje  states  is 
called  again,  and  the  chairman  of  each  delegation  announces 
its  vote.  If  any  man  receives  a  majority  vote  —  or  a  two- 
thirds  vote  in  the  Democratic  convention  —  one  of  the 
managers  for  a  defeated  candidate  immediately  moves  that 
the  nomination  be  made  unanimous.  This  is  almost  in- 
variably done.^  After  selecting  the  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, the  convention  proceeds  to  choose  a  nominee  for 
Vice  President.^ 


1  Usually  several  ballots  are  taken,  and  at  times  the  voting  is  very  much 
prolonged,  as  in  the  Whig  convention  of  1852,  in  which  fifty-three  ballots  were 
necessary,  or  in  the  Republic  convention  of  1880,  which  nominated  James  A. 
Garfield  on  thevfejiijrty -sixth  ballot.  Occasionally,  on  the  other  hand,  candidates 
are  nominated  by  acclamation  without  going  through  the  customary  forms. 

^  As  the  position  is  one  more  of  honor  than  power,  it  is  not  often  desired  by 


NOMINATIONS 


lOS 


96.   The  People   and  the  Parties  in  Nominations.  —  It 

is  impossible  for  every  person  in  any  party  or  in  all  parties 
to  be  represented  truly  in  the  nomination  or  in  the  election 
of  any  elected  public  official,  even  if  that  official  represents 
a  very  small  community.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to 
discover  that  form  of  organization  and  those  methods  of 
action  which  will  give  the  best  results.  In  a  democracy  no 
results  would  be  considered  good  which  did  not  represent  the 
majority  of  the  people  fairly  well.  Hence  we  have  had, 
first,  nominating  conventions  instead  of  office  holders' 
caucuses,  and,  later,  primary  elections  instead  of  nominating 
conventions. 

It  stands  to  reason  that  the  only  effective  way  in  which 
the  people  in  general  may  secure  a  share  in  the  nomination 
of  elected  officials  is  through  organization.  If  the  people  are 
not  organized,  those  in  authority,  those  with  influence,  those 
of  position  or  wealth,  will  always  be  able  to  block  the  wishes 
and  the  will  of  the  people.  However,  organization  in  itself 
will  not  necessarily  bring  popular  government.  If  the  or- 
ganization in  turn  is  controlled  by  those  who  have  position 
or  wealth  or  influence,  it  becomes  by  that  fact  an  instrument 
of  tyranny  even  more  dangerous  to  the  people  than  an 
*'  unorganized  system  "  ;  we  may  have  the  worst  forms  of  "  in- 
visible government"  (§  109).  In  other  words,  it  may  be 
necessary  for  the  government  to  supervise  the  party  organiza- 
tions in  order  that  they  shall  really  represent  the  members 
of  the  party  rather  than  bosses  or  rings  (§  109). 


Why  all  peo 

pie  cannot 
be  perfectly 
represented 
in  govern- 
ment. 


Why  party 
organization 
is  necessary 
to  popular 
government. 


Elections 

97.   Political   Campaigns.  —  An   election    campaign   may   Efforts  made 
occupy  the  entire  time  between  the  nominations  and  the    to  secure 


election,  or  it  may  be  hmited  chiefly  to  the  month,  preceding 


votes. 


men  of  the  greatest  ability.  It  is  usually  given  to  a  leader  of  some  minor  faction 
of  the  party,  or  to  a  poUtician  from  a  doubtful  state  which  is  located  some  dis- 
tance from  that  of  the  presidential  nominee.  In  either  case  it  would  give 
strength  to  the  "ticket."  Unsuccessful  candidates  for  the  presidential  nomi- 
nation are  rarely  or  never  chosen. 


lOO 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The  time  of 
elections. 


.Registration 
of  voters. 


The  process 
of  voting. 


the  polling  of  the  votes,  every  effort  being  made  by  each 
party  to  elect  its  candidates.  The  campaign  is  conducted 
by  the  permanent  party  committees,  or  by  special  executive 
committees  (§  io6),  which  represent  the  candidates  partic- 
ularly, if  the  campaign  is  of  sufficient  importance.  In  a 
presidential  campaign,  for  example,  there  is  a  special  national 
executive  committee  whose  chairman  for  months  directs  the 
campaign,  and  whose  members  divide  the  task  of  persuad- 
ing or  convincing  voters.  Money  must  be  obtained  to  pay 
the  expenses  of  printing  campaign  literature  and  to  secure 
the  services  of  speakers,  while  personal  efforts  must  be  used 
to  obtain  the  support  of  the  "  waverers  "  and  bring  all  of 
the  party's  adherents  to  the  polls.  In  a  city  the  special 
conduct  of  the  campaign,  including  the  raising  and  distri- 
bution of  funds,  belongs  to  the  city  committee,  and  the  ward 
committees  under  its  charge  organize  clubs,  hold  meetings, 
and  perform  active  duties  on  election  day.  In  the  campaigns 
of  to-day,  fortunately,  less  appeal  is.  being  made  to  prejudice 
and  selfish  interests  than  was  formerly  the  practice.  More 
attention  is  given  to  the  conducting  of  "  educational  cam- 
paigns." 

98.  Holding  an  Election.  —  Election  of  those  public 
officials  who  are  chosen  by  the  voters  usually  takes  place 
on  the  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of  November.  It  is 
customary,  however,  to  have  city  elections  at  a  different 
time  and  town  elections  in  the  spring. 

Before  an  election  is  held,  voters  are  ordinarily  required 
to  register,  showing  where  they  reside  and  proving  that  they 
have  a  right  to  vote.  Re-registration  should  be  required 
before  each  important  general  election.  This  enrollment  is 
necessary  to  prevent  men  from  voting  in  more  than  one 
precinct,  or  voting  district,  since  the  officials  in  charge  of 
the  election  usually  do  not  have  a  personal  acquaintance 
with  the  voters  except  in  country  precincts. 

A  person  who  wishes  to  vote  goes  to  the  polling  place 
which  has  been  selected  for  his  precinct.  After  proving 
that  he  has  a  right  to  vote,  he  receives  a  single  large  sheet, 


ELECTIONS  107 

known  as  the  official  ballot.^  On  this  ballot  ordinarily  the 
names  of  all  candidates  of  each  party  or  ticket  are  placed  in 
one  column.  Having  retired  into  a  private  booth,  the  voter 
marks  his  choice,  folds  the  ballot,  and  returns  it  to  the  proper 
election  official.  The  official,  not  the  voter,  deposits  the 
ballot  in  the  ballot  box. 

When  the  polls  are  closed,  the  ballots  are  counted  publicly   Counting 
by  the  judges,  who  then  forward  the  ballots  to  a  canvassing   ^^^  ^otes. 
board.     This  board  examines   the  returns  and  makes  an 
official  announcement  of  the  number  of  votes  cast  for  each 
candidate.2    The   successful    candidates   are   duly   notified 
and  later  are  installed  in  office. 

99.  The  Short  Ballot.  —  The  ballot  has  had  an  interest-  Develop- 
ing history  during  the  last  two  or  three  centuries.  In  very  Jf^^^  °^^^^ 
early  colonial  times  and  in  England  until  recent  years,  votes  lan"  ballot, 
were  given  verbally.  The  written  ballot  came  into  use  in 
the  northern  colonies  in  the  seventeenth  century  and  has 
been  used  universally  in  the  United  States  for  many  years. 
Until  about  1888,  however,  each  party  printed  its  own 
ballots  for  its  members,  open  ballot  boxes  were  used,  and 
voters  deposited  their  own  ballots.  They  did  not  always 
limit  themselves  to  one  each,  a  misdemeanor  which  was 
known  as  "  stuffing  "  the  ballot  box.  After  1888  practically 
all  of  the  states  adopted  the  plan  of  printing  official  ballots, 
giving  the  names  of  the  candidates  of  all  parties.  Because 
the  number  of  elective  officials  is  large  and  many  constitu- 
tional amendments  and  proposed  laws  are  included,  these 
ballots  frequently  contain  several  hundred  names  and  are 
nearly  a  yard  square. 

As  it  is  practically  impossible  for  even  the  intelligent 
voter  to  inform  himself  clearly  on  the  respective  merits  of  so 

1  Each  party  is  allowed  to  have  a  certain  number  of  "watchers"  who  make 
sure  that  the  election  proceedings  are  perfectly  regular.  Any  voter  may  be 
"challenged"  by  any  other  voter  on  the  ground  that  the  former  is  not  eligible 
to  vote  in  that  precinct.  He  must  then  take  oath  that  he  has  a  right,  or  he  will 
be  excluded  from  voting. 

2  It  is  customary  to  require  only  a  plurality,  that  is,  a  larger  vote  than  is 
received  by  any  one  else,  not  a  majority,  for  election  to  public  office. 


io8 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Reasons  for 
adopting  a 
shorter 
ballot. 


Universal 
require- 
ments for 
voting. 


many  candidates,  there  has  been  in  recent  years  a  strong 
movement  to  simplify  the  ballot.  Two  dissimilar  reasons  are 
advocated  for  this  change;  first,  that  if  the  voter  cannot 
vote  inteUigently  on  so  many  names,  the  party  machines 
have  too  much  influence  in  the  selection  of  public  officials, 
and  secondly,  that  only  those  officials  need  be  selected  by 
the  public  whose  work  deals  with  public  policies.  Many 
reformers  as  well  as  short  ballot  advocates  believe  that  public 
ofiicials  whose  duties  are  purely  administrative,  that  is, 
concerned  with  routine  affairs  or  with  the  simple  application 
of  clearly  defined  laws,  should  be  appointed  by  some  re- 
sponsible person  who  can  judge  the  fitness  of  the  applicants 
for  that  work  better  than  it  can  be  determined  by  the  average 
voter.  The  short  ballot  has  been  adopted  rather  extensively 
within  recent  years. ^ 

100.  Who  May  Vote.  —  There  are  three  practically  uni- 
versal requirements  for  voters.  The  first  is  residence,  for  no 
one  is  allowed  to  vote  unless  he  is  a  bona  fide  resident  of  the 
precinct,  county,  and  state  in  which  he  seeks  to  cast  his 
ballot.  The  second  is  the  age  requirement,  since  all  voters 
in  each  state  must  be  at  least  twenty-one  years  of  age.  The 
third  requirement  is  that  of  citizenship.  Three  quarters 
of  the  states  permit  only  full-fledged  citizens  to  take  part  in 
elections,  although  the  others  grant  the  elective  franchise 
to  aliens  who  have  declared  their  intention  of  becoming 
citizens.2 

1  Some  cities  have  adopted  the  short  ballot  and  elect  only  members  of  a 
small  coimcil  or  commission,  a  mayor,  and  one  or  two  important  financial  offi- 
cials, all  others  being  appointed.  Especially  in  those  cities  that  have  the  com- 
mission form  of  government  the  ballots  now  contain  only  about  one  quarter  of 
the  names  which  formerly  appeared  on  that  document.  A  few  of  our  states 
have  Umited  the  number  of  elective  offices  and  a  very  few  counties  have  intro- 
duced changes  of  the  same  type.  As  we  noted  above  (§  91),  the  nimiber  of  elec- 
tive officials  connected  with  the  national  government  is  very  small. 

^  In  the  seventeenth  century  no  one  dreamed  of  imiversal  manhood  suffrage 
In  those  days  no  American  was  permitted  to  share  in  the  election  of  public 
officials  unless  he  was  a  Protestant  who  owned  real  estate.  In  the  first  half  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  when  a  strong  democratic  movement  took  place,  citizenship 
replaced  property  qualifications  for  all  white  men  and  many  resident  aliens  were 
given  the  right  to  vote  in  addition.  In  1870  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  to  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  gave  to  negroes  the  same  voting  rights  as  whites 


ELECTIONS  109 

A.11  classes  on  whom  the  right  to  vote  is  not  directly  con-  Excluded  in< 
ferred   naturally   are   debarred   from   voting.     In   addition  dividuals  or 
some  persons  in  the  permitted  classes  are  also  excluded  legally  otherwise 
from  sharing  in  elections.     Persons  who  are  insane  or  other-  would  vou. 
wise    incompetent    are    universally   excluded,   as    are    men 
convicted  of  some  serious  crime  for  which  they  have  not 
been   subsequently  pardoned.     Inmates  of  public  institu- 
tions and  paupers  sometimes  are  debarred  from  the  exer- 
cise of  the  elective  franchise.     Some  states  have  tried  to 
raise  the  intellectual  standard  of  the  voter  by  shutting  out 
those  who  cannot  read  or  write.     A  few  southern  states,  in 
a  rather  successful  attempt  to  exclude  negroes,   adopted 
"  grandfather  clauses."    These  clauses  provided  that  any 
person  who  failed  to  meet  the  state  requirement  for  voters, 
that  is,  abihty  to  read  or  possession  of  property,  should  not 
be  excluded  if  he  or  one  of  his  ancestors  had  voted  before 
1867. 

101.  Woman  Suffrage.  —  By  1919  fifteen  states  had  Woman  suf- 
adopted  full  woman  suffrage  and  four  had,  by  statute,  con-  ^^^^^  ^^ 
ferred  the  elective  franchise  on  women  for  all  offices  not 
mentioned  in  the  state  constitution.  Nearly  one  half  of  the 
other  states  permit  some  form  of  partial  suffrage.  A  reso- 
lution proposing  a  constitutional  amendment  to  provide  for 
nation-wide  woman  suffrage  was  defeated  in  the  senate  in 
19 1 9  by  a  single  vote. 

When  suffrage  was  extended  to  all  white  men  in  the  nine-  History  of 
teenth  century,  these  men  very  soon  secured  legislation  Z1^^^  ^^' 
which  gave  the  common  man  more  rights.  In  consequence 
many  women  demanded  suffrage.  At  that  time  in  some 
states  they  did  secure  many  rights,  but  they  did  not  gain 
the  right  to  vote.  Not  until  the  later  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century  did  any  territories  and  states  extend  the  elective 
franchise  to  women.  In  19 10  a  new  movement  in  favor  of 
woman  suffrage  started  on  the  Pacific  coast.  The  accom- 
panying map  shows  how  far  this  movement  has  extended. 

possessed.  Since  1870  there  has  been  a  demand  for  more  discrimination  in  de- 
ciding who  may  vote.  Not  only  have  certain  groups  been  excluded,  as  noted 
m  §  100,  but  the  elective  franchise  has  been  extended  to  new  classes. 


frage. 


no 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The  problem 
of  adopting 
woman 
suffrage. 


The  woman  suffrage  movement  is  only  a  phase  of  the 
woman's  movement  in  general.  That  woman  suffrage  will 
be  extended  further  admits  of  no  question  whatever.  This 
is  not  the  place  to  discuss  the  merits  of  ^'  votes  for  women," 
but  two  things  should  be  considered:  (i)  whether  women 
are  not  as  vitally  interested  as  men  in  the  work  done  through 
our  government  for  the  individual  and  society,  and  (2) 
whether  women's  interest  in  public  affairs  makes  them 
competent  to  form  judgments  on  the  merits  of  candidates 


Gerryman- 
dering. 


Full  Suffrage 

PresKleotiol   and 

MuDlcipal  Su^'rage 
Preaideatial  Sufl'rage 


and  of  public  questions.  Certainly  the  woman  of  to-day 
has  an  attitude  toward  public  problems  which  is  radically 
different  from  that  of  the  woman  of  yesterday,  and  the 
woman  of  to-morrow,  even  in  the  more  conservative  states 
and  communities,  is  likely  to  demand  and  deserve  a  larger 
share  in  the  direct  work  of  governing  this  nation. 

102.  Problems  of  Elections.  —  Practically  all  of  our 
lawmaking  bodies  are  made  up  of  representatives  chosen 
for  short  terms  from  districts  into  which  the  states,  counties, 
and  cities  are  divided.  In  each  case  the  real  basis  of  repre- 
sentation  is  population,  provision  being  made  for  reappor- 


JiLECTIONS 


III 


Proportional 
representa- 
tion. 


tionment  of  members  and  redivision  of  districts  every  ten 
years,  following  a  national  census  or  a  special  state  census.^ 
There  is  great  danger  that  in  rearranging  districts  the  party 
in  power  will  seek  to  "  gerrymander  "  some  districts.  By 
^'  gerrymandering  "  they  strive  to  arrange  the  districts  for 
their  own  benefit  in  order  that  their  party  shall  elect  far  more 
than  its  share  of  members  to  later  legislative  bodies. 

Because  of  the  danger  of  "  gerrymandering,"  and  because 
the  majority  party  usually  elects  far  more  than  its  share  of 
representatives,  many  reformers  have  advocated  some  form 
of  proportional  representation.  It  is  believed  that  if  the 
districts  from  which  representatives  are  chosen  are  made 
sufficiently  large  and  many  representatives  are  chosen  from 
each  district,  the  smaller  parties  will  then  secure  some  pro- 
portion of  the  legislators ;  whereas  now  the  small  parties 
have  no  representatives  and  a  large  minority  party  has  a 
very  small  percentage  of  votes.  The  chief  obstacle  to  the 
adoption  of  proportional  representation  seems  to  be  the 
strong  attachment  of  the  American  people  to  the  practice 
of  electing  from  a  single  district  one  legislator  who  is  a  resi- 
dent of  that  district.2 

103.  Efforts  made  to  Guard  the  Purity  of  Elections.  — 
In  popular  governments  such  as  ours,  it  is  unfortunate  if  ^"^^^s  from 
anything  prevents  the  people  from  voting  or  from  electing  as  bribery, 
public  officials  the  persons  whom  they  wish.  If  any  set  of 
men,  by  using  undue  influence,  bribery,  force,  or  fraud,  can 
defeat  the  wishes  of  the  people,  they  have  to  that  extent 
injured  our  political  system.  Only  a  few  years  ago,  before 
the  reformed  ballot  was  adopted,  it  was  very  difficult  for  a 
man  to  vote  secretly,  as  partisan  workers  were  allowed  free 
access  to  the  polling  places  and  there  was  httle  difficulty  in 
learning  for  which  party  the  vote  was  cast.     The  buying  of 

1  It  is  supposed  that  the  different  districts  used  for  the  election  of  representa- 
tives to  the  same  body  are  nearly  equal  in  population  and  that  they  are  contigu- 
ous and  compact,  but  it  is  not  always  easy  to  make  them  so. 

^  For  a  criticism  of  our  representative  methods  by  a  distinguished  English 
student  of  American  government  see  Bryce's  American  Commonwealth,  abridged 
edition,  pp.  143-146,  334-336- 


Dangers 


112 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Corrupt 
practices 
acts. 


Checks  in 
elections. 


Removal  of 
law  breakers. 


Removal  of 
corrupt  oflS- 
cials. 


votes,  both  before  and  at  election,  was  very  much  more 
common  than  it  is  now.  Often  election  officials  tampered 
with  election  returns. 

Especially  prominent  among  the  means  used  to  prevent 
bribery  of  voters  are  the  '*  corrupt  practices  acts,"  which  re- 
quire the  different  candidates  to  file,  after  election,  with  the 
state  secretary  of  state  or  county  clerk  a  complete  state- 
ment of  all  money  which  they  have  expended.  Some  po- 
litical party  committees  voluntarily  publish  reports  of  their 
receipts  and  expenditures,  because  of  the  popular  opposition 
to  the  abuses  of  an  earlier  day.  Corrupt  practices  acts 
which  do  not  include  publicity  for  party  finances  are  of  lit- 
tle value.  In  fact,  Congress  and  many  states  do  not  allow 
parties  to  receive  campaign  contributions  from  corporations, 
•because  formerly  corporations  in  offering  financial  help  to 
the  parties  had  "  a  lively  sense  of  favors  to  come."  Congress 
will  probably  limit  the  amount  to  be  spent  by  each  national 
committee  in  any  presidential  election. 

104.  Responsibility  and  Removal  of  Elected  Officials.  — 
All  popular  governments  should  provide  adequate  means 
not  only  for  the  full  and  free  expression  of  the  popular  wishes 
in  elections,  but  for  enforcing  a  proper  amount  of  respon- 
sibility among  public  officials.  The  chief  dependence  in 
times  past  has  been  on  short  terms  and  frequent  elections. 
These  have  acted  as  a  check  on  prolonged  abuse  of  powers 
and  have  given  the  people  the  opportunity  to  replace  ineffi- 
cient or  unworthy  public  servants. 

In  the  national  government  and  in  most  of  the  states  laws 
exist  which  provide  for  the  removal  of  officials  guilty  of  open 
bribery  or  other  forms  of  corruption.  That  these  have  been 
applied  with  some  slight  success  is  shown  by  the  removal  and 
imprisonment  of  several  congressmen,  of  legislators  in  a  few 
states,  and  of  mayors  and  a  few  other  elected  officials  in 
cities  that  were  badly  governed. 

When  an  official  grossly  betrays  public  interests  which  have 
been  intrusted  to  his  charge,  even  though  he  is  not  guilty  of 
law  breaking,  resignations  are  sometimes,  though  not  often, 


ELECTIONS  113 

obtained  through  the  pressure  of  pubUc  opinion.  Valuable 
as  public  sentiment  may  be  in  enforcing  responsibility- — 
and  "it  is  undoubtedly  the  strongest  force  that  can  be  exerted 
—  it  usually  fails  to  prevent  the  continuance  of  the  worst 
forms  of  misgovernment,  unless  the  law  covers  the  offense 
committed  and  the  courts  apply  the  penalty  without  fear  or 
favor.  Very  important  officials  may  be  removed  by  im- 
peachment (§§  191,  224).  A  comparatively  new  means  of 
forcing  elected  officials  to  observe  wishes  of  their  constituents 
is  iYit  recall  (§  121). 

General  References 

Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State,  423-437. 

Dallinger,  Nominations  for  Elective  Office,  Part  II. 

Hart,  Actual  Government,  65-85. 

Fuller,  Government  by  the  People. 

Childs,  Short  Ballot  Principles. 

Cleveland,  Organized  Democracy,  Part  III. 

Jones,  Readings  on  Parties  and  Elections,  53-168,  212-250. 

Shambaugh  (ed.),  Iowa  Applied  History  Series,  I,  261-417,  II,  277-496. 

Topics 

Primary  Elections:  McLaughlin  and  Hart  (eds.),  Cyclopedia  of 
American  Government,  III,  49-55  ;  Cleveland,  Organized  Democracy,  228- 
242 ;   Reinsch,  Readings  on  American  State  Government,  383-394. 

Woman  Suffrage  :  C\evela,iid,  Organized  Democracy,  iSi-i6S;  Sea- 
well,  M.  E.,  in  Atlantic  Monthly,  106  (1910),  289-303;  Knobe,  B.  D.,  in 
World's  Work,  22  (1911),  14733-14744;  Jones,  Mrs.  G.  E.,  in  Annals  of 
the  American  Academy,  35  (1910),  May  Supplement,  16-22;  Beard, 
Woman's  Work  in  Municipalities,  319-337;   Sumner,  Equal  Sufrage. 

Studies 

1.  The  old-fashioned  primaries  in  large  cities.  Dallinger,  Nomina- 
tions for  Elective  Office,  100-121. 

2.  Election  reform  —  the  trend  toward  democracy.  Ruppenthal, 
J.  C,  in  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  28  (1906),  411-441. 

3.  What  proportion  of  the  possible  voters  actually  vote?  Hart, 
Practical  Essays  on  Government,  20-57. 

4.  The  people  and  direct  nominations.  Reinsch,  Readings  in  Ameri- 
can State  Government,  414-421. 

I 


114  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

5.  Direct  primaries  and  the  second  ballot.  Holcombe,  A.  N.,  in 
American  Political  Science  Review,  5  (191 1),  535-552. 

6.  The  American  voter.  Gettell,  Readings  in  Political  Science,,  305- 
317. 

7.  Campaign  oratory.  Hale,  W.  B.,  in  World's  Work,  23  (191 2), 
673-683. 

8.  Gerrymandering.     Griffin,  H.  F.,  in  Outlook,  97  (191 1),  186-193. 

9.  Rotten  boroughs  of  New  England.  Jones,  C.  L.,  in  North  Ameri- 
can Review,  197  (1913),  486-498. 

10.  The  Short  Ballot.  Childs,  R.,  in  Reinsch,  Readings  on  American 
State  Government,  372-383. 

11.  Proportional  Representation.  Jones  (ed.).  Readings  on  Parties 
and  Elections,  164-168. 

12.  Bribery  laws.  Reinsch,  Readings  on  American  State  Government, 
428-432. 

13.  Corrupt  practices  in  cities.  Osbom,  W.  C,  in  Conference  for 
Good  City  Government  (19 10),  490-497. 

Questions 

1.  Name  several  ways  in  which  people  cooperate  in  government. 

2.  Learn,  if  possible,  how  many  primaries  were  held  by  each  political 
party  last  year  in  your  precinct.     Were  they  well  attended? 

3.  Outline  the  history  of  nominations  and  primaries.  Show  that 
each  new  form  was  more  democratic  than  the  one  immediately  preceding. 

4.  Explain  the  methods  and  importance  of  the  direct  primary. 
Describe  the  organization  and  procedure  of  a  presidential  nomination 
convention.  What  was  the  significance  of  the  statement  of  prominent 
politicians  a  few  years  ago,  that  the  methods  used  in  presidential  nom- 
inations were  like  hash,  the  less  known  of  the  ingredients  the  better? 

5.  Who  may  vote  in  this  state?  What  classes  of  persons  are  ex- 
pressly excluded  from  voting?  What  length  of  residence  for  voters  is 
required  in  the  precinct?  in  the  county?   in  the  state? 

6.  In  what  voting  precinct  do  you  live  ?  Give  its  boundaries.  Where 
is  the  usual  poUing  place  ?  How  many  votes  were  cast  within  the  pre- 
cinct at  the  last  election? 

7.  On  what  day  are  congressmen  elected?  members  of  the  state 
legislature  ?  the  governor  of  the  state  ?  the  county  officials  ?  the  mayor 
of  the  city?   How  long  are  the  polls  kept  open? 

8.  How  many  states  have  full  woman  suffrage,  partial  woman  suf- 
frage? Why  will  woman  suffrage  undoubtedly  be  more  general  in  the 
future  than  it  is  to-day? 

9.  Explain  these  names  or  terms :  rotation  in  office,  one-man  power, 
patronage,  caucus,  straight  ballot,  elective  franchise,  gerrymandering, 
proportional  representation,  bribery,  corrupt  practices. 


CHAPTER  VII 

OTHER  MEANS   OF  POPULAR   CONTROL 

The  Work  of  the  Political  Parties 

105.  The  Importance  of  Party  Activities.  —  The  im-  The  poUtical 
portance  of  the  work  done  through  the  pohtical  parties  ^^^^^^^fo^r 
must  be  apparent  from  the  preceding  chapter,  for  govern-  government, 
ment  in  the  United  States  means  government  by  the  people 
to  a  large  extent  acting  through  political  parties.  The  elec- 
tors must  organize  not  only  to  nominate  candidates  but  to 
secure  their  election,  and  the  political  party  has  furnished 
the  best  form  of  permanent  organization  for  those  persons 
who  hold  the  same  views  on  public  questions  or  who  desire 
to  act  together.  It  would  be  impossible  for  the  American 
people  to  govern  our  country  without  some  means  such  as 
political  parties  for  developing  and  expressing  public  senti- 
ment as  well  as  for  the  great  task  of  filling  the  numerous 
pubhc  offices.  The  parties  have  done  and  are  now  doing 
an  inestimable  service  in  uniting  the  people,  in  preventing 
state  isolation  and  sectionalism,  and  in  creating  a  spirit  of 
harmony  in  the  actual  working  relations  of  state  and  national 
governments  —  the  two  great  divisions  of  our  federal  sys- 
tem (§  66). 

In  order  to  perform  its  important  work  in  connection  with  Party  organ- 
the  selection  of  public  officials,  each  party  maintains  a  per-  ^^^^^°^- 
manent  organization  consisting  of  committees.  For  the 
nomination  of  candidates  it  uses  direct  primaries  and  con- 
ventions. As  we  have  already  observed  how  primaries  and 
conventions  are  composed,  and  what  methods  they  use  in 
nominating  candidates  (§§  94,  95),  we  need  consider  only 
the  party  committees. 

"5 


ii6 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Composition 
of  political 
party  com- 
mittees. 


Executive 
committees. 


Work  in  con- 
nection with 
primaries. 


106.  The  permanent  party  committees  are  composed  of 
representatives  elected  by  the  members  of  the  parties  for 
terms  of  two  to  four  years.  The  ward  committees,  the  city 
committees,  and  the  county  committees  are  chosen  in  pri- 
mary elections  or  are  appointed  by  local  conventions  made 
up  of  delegates  selected  chiefly  for  that  purpose  in  the  pri- 
maries. The  members  of  the  state  committees  are  selected 
by  county  conventions.  The  national  committees  of  each 
party  consist  of  one  member  from  each  state,  elected  by  the 
delegates  from  that  state  to  the  national  conventions  which 
nominate  candidates  for  President  and  Vice  President. 
Reelection  of  committeemen  being  the  rule,  the  committees 
are  more  permanent  bodies  than  our  county  boards  or  state 
legislatures.  As  these  committees  may  hold  sessions  at  any 
time,  and  as  the  local  committees  usually  act  in  connection 
with  the  state  and  national  committees,  each  party  has  an 
organization  of  considerable  power  and  efficiency. 

Just  before  each  important  election,  special  executive 
committees  are  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  campaigns. 
These  may  be  subcommittees  of  the  permanent  committees, 
or  they  may  represent  the  candidates  or  even  the  leading 
candidate  exclusively.  They  seldom  hamper  the  regular 
committees,  for  political  parties,  as  a  rule,  subdivide  the  work 
to  be  done  and  secure  the  cooperation  of  their  different 
organizations  in  such  a  way  as  to  obtain  a  maximum  of 
results. 

107.  The  work  of  the  party  committees  includes  the 
calling  of  party  conventions  and  the  management  of  the 
conventions  and  election  campaigns.  They  usually  propose 
to  the  primaries  lists  of  names,  popularly  known  as  ''  slates," 
and  use  every  means  to  secure  the  election  of  these  men  as 
candidates.  Conventions  are  frequently  dominated  by  the 
committees  in  the  same  way,  especially  when  a  committee 
is  working  for  itself  and  not  for  the  party.  During  the 
campaign,  both  before  election  and  on  election  day,  the 
committees  are  very  active  in  securing  votes  for  the  party 
.candidates.     Because  of  the  completeness  of  the  committee 


finance. 


WORK  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES  II7 

organization,  and  the  harmony  with  which  the  party  works 
together,  the  whole  system  of  party  committees  is  frequently 
known  as  the  "  machine.''^ 

The  task  of  raising  money  which  is  assigned  to  the  cam-  Party 
paign  committees  often  taxes  the  utmost  ingenuity  of  the 
party  managers.  Formerly,  speakers  and  other  partisan 
workers  gave  their  services,  expecting  to  be  repaid  by  offices 
if  the  party  was  successful,  but  the  gradual  abandonment  of 
the  spoils  system  (§  112)  has  compelled  a  change  of  methods. 
A  generation  ago  an  important  source  to  party  revenue  was 
the  enforced  contributions  which  all  officeholders  were 
compelled  to  give  —  a  custom  broken  up  by  the  first  attacks 
on  the  spoils  system.  Revenue  to-day  comes  chiefly  from  dis- 
interested party  men  of  considerable  public  spirit,  from  the 
candidates,  who  expend  less  personally  than  through  com- 
mittees, and  from  men  whose  interests  might  be  affected  by 
the  success  of  the  party.  Until  forbidden  by  law  (§  103) 
many  corporations  contributed  to  the  treasuries  of  one  or 
both  great  parties.  The  legitimate  expenses  of  some  cam- 
paigns are  enormous ;  the  expenditure  of  the  national  com- 
mittees have  reached  millions  and  occasionally  have  covered 
eight  figures.  Unfortunately  money  is  used  occasionally  for 
the  corruption  of  voters,  especially  in  great  cities  with  a 
large  foreign  population. 

108.  The  Parties  and  Public  Oflace.  —  As  pubUc  office  is  Parties  and 
the  chief  goal  of  party  effort,  the  success  of  our  repubHcan 
government  depends  to  a  great  extent  on  (i)  whether  the  party 
organizations  depend  on  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party  voters, 
and  .(2)  whether  the  "  machine  "  uses  proper  methods.  If 
the  party  managers  nullify  the  will  of  the  party  in  either  of 
the  vital  stages  of  popular  election  —  the  direct  primary  or 
the  election  —  there  is  no  longer  truly  popular  government. 
Efforts  have  been  made  in  recent  years  to  make  the  party  more 
truly  representative  of  the  people  by  passing  direct  primary 
and  preferential  primary  laws.  These  place  primary  elec- 
tions and  consequently  the  nomination  of  party  candidates 
under  the  direct  supervision  of  the  government,  but,  as  no 


elective 
oflSce. 


Il8  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

scheme  is  self-operating,  and  as  organized  effort  is  essential 
for  success  under  any  conditions,  good  government  and 
popular  government  do  not  necessarily  follow  these  reforms 
in  the  methods  which  must  now  be  used. 

An  inducement  even  greater  than  that  offered  by  elective 
office,  because  less  subject  to  popular  control,  is  that  pre- 
sented  by  the  large  number  of  appointive  positions.  More 
than  100,000  national  positions  are  filled  without  consult- 
ing the  National  Civil  Service  Commission  (§  114).  Fewer 
than  100,000  regular  paid  officials  are  elected  by  the  voters 
in  our  states,  counties,  cities,  and  towns,  and  other  local 
districts,  but  probably  between  300,000  and  400,000  per- 
sons besides  school  teachers  are  appointed  in  these  same 
governments,  very  many  of  whom  are  not  selected  solely  or 
chiefly  because  of  ability.  Thus,  at  present,  patronage 
running  up  into  hundreds  of  millions  a  year  is  the  reward 
not  so  much  of  the  persons  elected  as  of  the  power  behind 
the  throne  —  the  machine.  The  immense  influence  wielded 
because  of  the  control  over  so  many  positions,  coupled  with 
the  advantages  that  may  be  derived  from  expending  nearly  two 
billion  dollars  a  year  for  other  purposes,  has  developed  and 
maintained  the  machine  organization.  As  the  temptation 
to  turn  these  party  organizations  into  close  corporations  has, 
consequently,  been  too  strong  to  be  resisted,  except  in  the 
rural  districts  and  a  few  cities,  the  committees  which  were 
meant  to  serve  their  party  have  more  often  come  to  domi- 
nate it. 
Rings."  ^09-   Bosses  and  Rings. — The  misuse  of  power  in  con- 

troUing  appointments  and  elections,  as  well  as  in  the  making 
of  laws,  is  the  great  danger  of  popular  government  through 
parties.  Organization  is  essential  for  carrying  on  the  work 
of  government.  Success  may  require  and  usually  does  re- 
quire that  the  organization  be  so  complete  that  it  respond 
quickly  to  the  commands  of  its  managers,  as  an  army  does 
to  the  orders  of  its  general.  If  the  managers  form  a  ''  cUque," 
determined  to  use  the  party  organization  for  selfish  ends, 
these  partisan  dictators  form  what  is  known  as  a  "  rmg." 


WORK  OF  POLITICAL  PARTIES 


119 


A  striking  instance  of  the  enormous  power  that  may  be 
wielded  by  a  ring  is  given  by  the  famous  Tweed  Ring,  which 
controlled  the  government  of  New  York  City  for  several 
years,  during  which  more  than  $100,000,000  from  the  city 
treasury  was  wasted  or  stolen. 

*'  In  a  ring  there  is  usually  some  one  person  who  holds  The 
more  strings  in  his  hand  than  do  the  others.  .  .  .  His  su- 
perior skill,  courage,  and  force  of  will  make  him,  as  such 
gifts  always  do  make  their  possessor,  dominant  among  his 
fellows.  An  army  led  by  a  council  seldom  conquers ;  it 
must  have  a  commander-in-chief,  who  settles  disputes,  de- 
cides in  emergencies,  inspires  fear  or  attachment.  The 
head  of  the  ring  is  such  a  general.  He  dispenses  places,  re- 
wards the  loyal,  punishes  the  mutinous,  concocts  schemes, 
negotiates  treaties.  He  generally  avoids  publicity,  preferring 
the  substance  to  the  pomp  of  power,  and  is  all  the  more 
dangerous  because  he  sits,  like  a  spider,  hidden  in  the  midst 
of  his  web.  He  is  a  boss.  "  ^  Boss  rule  is  chiefly  objection- 
able because  it  represents  an  extreme  concentration  of 
power,  with  comparatively  little  chance  of  enforcing  re- 
sponsibility, although  in  the  long  run  no  boss  can  maintain 
his  position  in  the  face  of  popular  opposition.  This  govern- 
ment by  bosses  and  rings  that  really  rule  the  officials  who  are 
supposed  to  govern  us  has  very  aptly  been  called  "  invisible 
government.^' 

110.  The  Voter  and  Political  Parties.  —  Every  voter 
must  decide  for  himself  several  important  questions  regard- 
ing his  relation  to  the  political  parties.  Shall  he  remain 
independent  of  all  the  parties,  voting  first  with  one  and  then 
with  another,  or  shall  he  be  a  party  man,  identifying  himself 
with  one  party  ?  Will  it  be  best  for  him  to  vote  always  with 
his  party?  If  not,  when  shall  he  espouse  the  cause  of  his 
political  opponents,  or  vote  for  some  other  candidates? 
Many  earnest  citizens  beUeve  that  by  holding  aloof  from  all 
parties,  they  can  be  independent  and  vote  for  the  best  candi- 
dates without  prejudice.     They,  of  course,  are  debarred  from 

^Bryce,  American  Commonwealth,  2d  ed.,  II,  104. 


The  question 
of  independ- 
ent voting. 


120 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


l?artisan 
voters  in  gen- 
'^ral  and  local 
elections. 


taking  part  in  the  primaries  of  any  party,  as  they  belong  to 
none.  Some  corrupt  men  also  neglect  to  ally  themselves 
with  any  party,  but  vote  for  the  one  which  offers  them  the 
best  inducement  at  a  particular  election. 

The  majority  of  the  voters,  however,  are  party  men,  some 
of  whom  are  bound  to  their  party  by  the  strongest  of  all 
ties,  those  of  sentiment.  Many  of  these  men  believe  in  the 
motto,  "  our  party,  right  or  wrong,"  and  support  it  at  all 
times  and  under  all  circumstances,  even  when  the  nominees 
are  unfit  men,  acting  as  the  tools  of  dishonest  politicians. 
Most  party  men  are  undoubtedly  .willing  to  *'  scratch  " 
their  tickets,  that  is,  to  refuse  their  votes  for  a  man  whom 
they  consider  unworthy,  although  in  most  cases  they  will 
vote  a  "  straight  "  ticket  —  supporting  every  candidate  of 
their  party.  Among  men  who  vote  a  straight  ticket  at 
national  elections  and  even  at  state  elections,  there  is  a 
decided  movement  toward  voting  independently  in  local  elec- 
tions. They  think  that  in  state  and  national  elections  it  is 
necessary  to  uphold  the  party's  policy,  but  that,  when  mu- 
nicipal or  county  officials  are  chosen,  the  question  of  the 
individual  fitness  of  the  candidates  is  the  only  important 
thing  to  be  considered. 


Methods  and 
needs  in  ap- 
pointment. 


The  Appointment  of  Public  Officials 

111.  Appointments  and  Removals.  —  In  none  of  our  gov- 
ernments are  all  officials  selected  by  popular  vote,  but  the 
majority  of  the  persons  who  hold  office  through  appointment 
are  employees  rather  than  officials,  although  many  who  have 
duties  of  the  greatest  importance  are  appointed.  A  few  of 
these  appointed  persons  are  connected  with  the  legislative 
branch  of  the  government,  a  larger  number  belong  to  the 
judiciary,  but  an  overwhelming  majority  have  executive  or 
administrative  duties.^    Almost  all  high  appointive  officials 

1  The  term  administrative  will  be  used  as  practically  synonymous  with  the 
word  executive,  although  it  refers  to  subjects  such  as  finance,  education,  or 
public  improvement,  which  involve  the  execution  of  law  very  little  but  its 
application  to  a  marked  degree. 


APPOINTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  OFFICIALS  121 

are  chosen  by  the  chief  executive  of  the  government  to  which 
the  position  belongs ;  that  is,  by  the  President,  governor,  or 
mayor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  national  or  state 
senate  or  of  the  city  council.  Since  this  division  of  responsi- 
bility frequently  leads  to  real  appointment  by  some  member 
of  the  legislative  body  instead  of  by  the  chief  executive,  no 
blame  can  be  attached  for  poor  selections  and  no  credit 
given  for  meritorious  appointments. 

Terms  of  appointive  office  are  usually  short  or  indefinite.  Removals. 
In  order  that  the  head  of  each  government  may  have  a  set 
of  workers  dependent  on  him,  who  will  carry  out  his  plans, 
and  policy,  he  or  his  subordinates  frequently  have  the  right 
to  remove  persons  whom  they  appoint.  The  power  of  re- 
moval is  essential  to  efficient,  responsible  government^  but  its 
abuse  opens  the  way  to  the  worst  features  of  bad  government. 

112.  The  Spoils  System.  —  For  more  than  a  half  century.  Use  and  ob- 
it was  the  custom  in  the  United  States  to  change  the  whole  Jection. 
corps  of  minor  appointed  officials  and  many  of  the  employees 
whenever  there  was  a  change  in  the  elected  head  of  any  de- 
partment of  government,  on  the  principle  that  ''  to  the  vic- 
tors belong  the  spoils."  The  places  made  vacant  by  these 
removals  were  filled  by  followers  of  the  new  chief,  or  by 
persons  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  partisan  favors.  This 
custom,  popularly  known  as  the  "  spoils  system,"  gave  us 
neither  a  skilled  nor  an  efficient  body  of  public  servants,  and 
did  so  much  harm  that  a  widespread  demand  for  "  civil 
service  reform  "  arose. 

The  opponents  of  the  '^  spoils  system,"  which  still  per-  The  need  of 
sists  for  about  one  third  of  the  administrative  positions  in   drained  pub- 

lie  S6rV3f]ltS 

the  United  States,  have  worked  earnestly  for  the  adoption 
of  a  system  in  which  officials  should  be  appointed  and  pro- 
moted,  not  by  reason  of  political  influence,  but  solely  on 
merit.  They  have  maintained  and  proved  that  it  is  not  nec- 
essary for  these  appointed  officials  to  hold  any  particular 
views  on  political  questions,  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  only 
trained  and  competent  persons  can  properly  perform  the 
duties  of  these  positions.    The  old  system,  which  compelled 


122 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


National 
Civil  Serv- 
ice Com- 
mission Act 
of  1883. 


Important 
changes 
under  Presi- 
dents Cleve- 
land, Roose- 
velt, and 
Taft. 


Three  groups 
in  our  na- 
tional civil 
service. 


appointed  officials  to  give  contributions  of  money  and  to 
work  during  the  campaign  and  at  the  polls  for  the  heads  of 
their  departments  or  their  partisan  chiefs  in  order  to  retain 
their  positions,  has  been  shown  to  be  unjust  to  officeholders 
and  dangerous  to  a  system  of  free  elections. 

113.  Development  of  Civil  Service  Reform.  —  The  civil 
service  of  any  government  includes  all  officers  under  that 
government  who  are  not  connected  with  the  army  or 
navy.  In  other  words,  civil  service  is  distinguished  from 
mihtary  service.  After  President  Garfield  was  assassinated 
in  1 88 1  by  a  disappointed  office  seeker,  a  civil  service  reform 
act  was  passed  by  the  national  government  in  order  that  the 
personnel  of  the  civil  service  should  be  made  up  of  efficient 
pubHc  officials  rather  than  of  party  followers.  This  law 
provides  for  a  commission  of  three  members  which  aids  the 
President  in  the  selection  of  subordinates,  makes  rules  for  the 
examination  of  candidates  for  numerous  executive  offices, 
and  arranges  for  appointment  and  removal  of  these  officials. 
As  these  offices  have  been  arranged  in  classes,  we  apply  the 
name  "  classified  service  "  to  those  positions  filled  after  com- 
petitive examination  under  the  Civil  Service  Commission. 

At  the  beginning  only  about  thirteen  thousand  positions 
were  controlled  by  the  Commission.  During  President 
Cleveland's  second  term  it  gained  the  right  to  make  mau^ 
more  appointments  in  the  Interior,  War,  Navy,  and  Treasury 
departments.  This  change  doubled  the  number  of  posi- 
tions in  the  classified  service.  President  Roosevelt,  himself 
a  former  national  civil  service  commissioner,  again  doubled 
the  number  of  offices  filled  by  the  Commission.  Under 
President  Taft  the  number  was  increased  by  the  addition  of 
all  fourth  class  postmasters. 

114.  Civil  Service  at  Present.  —  At  the  present  time 
there  are  more  than  one  half  milUon  national  civil  service 
positions.  Many  of  these  are  filled  by  laborers  and  con- 
tractors who  would  almost  of  necessity  be  exempt  from  com- 
petitive examination.  Of  the  others,  something  more  than 
ten  thousand  (three  quarters  of  whom  are  first  or  second  or 


APPOINTMENT  OF  PUBLIC  OFFICIALS  1 23 

third  class  postmasters)  are  appointed  by  the  President  with 
the  consent  of  the  Senate.  About  seventy-jive  per  cent  of  the 
remaining  national  offices  are  filled  hy  the  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission,^ which  still  consists  of  three  members  appointed  by 
the  President  for  an  indefinite  period,  no  more  than  two  of 
whom  may  belong  to  the  same  political  party. 

Most  of  the  government  employees  in  the  United  States  Civil  service 
are  connected  either  with  the  national  government  or  with  ^^^^^™^  ^^, 
local  governments.     Consequently  few  states   have   made  cities, 
provision  for  appointment  of  state  officials  by  civil  service 
commissions.     In  cities  also  appointment  after  examination 
has  been  introduced  slowly.     However,  more  than  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  cities  are  now  under  civil  service  rules,  about 
two  thirds  of  which  are  in  the  three  states  of  Ohio,  New 
York,  and  Massachusetts. 

115.  The  Problem  of  Civil  Service,  Public  Control,  and 
Good  Government.  —  In  a  democratic  country  there  are  at 
least  two  great  problems  which  must  be  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  appointment  of  public  officials.     The  first 

^  Whenever  vacancies  occur  or  are  likely  to  occur  in  any  office  or  group  of 
positions,  examinations  are  held  by  local  bodies  in  different  cities  throughout 
the  country  under  the  general  supervision  of  the  national  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission. The  written  examination  is  more  or  less  general.  In  addition  the 
examining  boards  seek  to  determine  the  actual  fitness  ot  the  candidate  for  the 
position,  taking  particularly  into  accoimt  the  length  and  the  success  of  his  ex- 
perience in  similar  positions.  Candidates  are  then  arranged  in  groups  of  three 
according  to  their  standing.  When  the  commission  is  notified  that  a  vacancy 
actually  occurs,  it  recommends  to  the  appointing  officer  the  three  who  stand 
highest.  From  these  the  person  under  whom  the  vacancy  occurs  selects  one 
who  is  appointed  temporarily  to  the  position.  If  his  work  proves  satisfactory 
for  six  months,  the  appointment  is  made  permanent.  If  not,  the  commission 
sends  to  the  appointing  officer  the  names  of  the  three  who  are  next  on  the  list 
and  the  process  is  repeated. 

No  person  is  removed  from  the  classified  service  except  for  cause  which  is 
explained  to  him  in  writing.  The  incumbent  has  opportunity  to  defend  himself 
and  may  appeal  not  only  to  officers  higher  up,  but  to  Congress.  There  is  far 
more  danger  that  the  classified  service  will  be  clogged  with  really  incapable 
and  superannuated  men  than  that  any  employee  will  be  removed  unfairly. 
Government  positions  offer  less  incentive  to  ambitious  workers  than  do  private 
business  companies,  yet  no  private  firm  expects  to  keep  all  of  its  employees 
for  a  lifetime.  In  years  to  come  there  will  be  great  danger  of  a  superannuated 
civil  service  list  because  our  national  government  makes  no  provision  for  re- 
tirement salaries  or  pensions  when  the  worker  has  already  given  a  lifetime  of 
service  to  the  public. 


124 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Need  of  se- 
lecting only 
the  best 
men  as  ap- 
pointive 
oflficers.  • 


Results,  not 

necessarily 

popular 

methods, 

chiefly 

desirable. 


is  this :  how  shall  the  public  secure  such  officials  as  it  wishes  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  government,  if  it  does  not  have  any 
share  in  the  direct  selection  of  those  officials?  It  must 
naturally  grant  to  some  third  party  full  power  of  appointment, 
since  it  cannot  approve  these  appointments  directly  or  re- 
move the  incumbents  easily.  It  must  make  that  person  or 
group  absolutely  responsible  for  the  fitness  of  the  appointee 
as  a  public  representative  and  as  a  person  capable  of  per- 
forming the  duties  of  the  office  for  which  he  is  selected. 

The  second  problem  is  not  the  problem  of  public  control 
but  of  good  government.  It  may  be  desirable  that  the  people 
should  really  be  represented  by  all  the  ofiicials  in  their  gov- 
ernments ;  it  is  necessary  that  the  personnel  of  the  civil  serv- 
ice be  made  up  of  persons  capable  of  doing  their  work  weU. 
Certainly  the  partisan  henchmen  who  were  appointed,  under 
the  spoils  system,  neither  represented  the  public  nor  gave 
us  good  government.  Certainly  also  the  selection  of  officials 
through  competitive  examination  has  been  a  fairly  satis- 
factory remedy  for  the  evils  of  the  spoils  system.  It  is  main- 
tained, however,  often  with  some  force,  that  our  present 
civil  service  reform  methods  are  impractical  and  do  not  de- 
termine fitness ;  that  the  service  already  is  becoming  clogged 
with  persons  who  have  outlived  their  usefulness,  and  that  no 
chief  can  organize  his  forces  into  a  competent,  unified  corpb 
of  workers  which  will  make  an  efficient  organization  of  the 
department  as  a  whole.  Personality  and  ability  to  cooperate 
with  one^s  fellows  and  with  one's  chief  are  necessary  qualifica- 
tions which  cannot  be  determined  by  any  set  of  rules.  The 
best  results  will  never  be  obtained  until  we  trust  our  elected 
executive  officials,  and  until  we  depend  on  the  judgment  and 
integrity  of  all  whom  we  elect  to  manage  our  public  affairs. 
For  good  appointive  officers  and  for  good  government  in 
general  we  may  say  with  J.  G.  Holland : 

God  give  us  men.     The  time  demands 

Strong  minds,  great  hearts,  true  faith,  and  willing  hands ; 

Men  whom  the  lust  of  office  does  not  kill ; 

Men  whom  the  spoils  of  ofl&ce  will  not  buy; 


INITIATIVE  AND   REFERENDUM  1 25 

Men  who  possess  opinions  and  a  will ; 

Men  who  have  honor ;  men  who  will  not  lie ; 

Tall  men,  sun-crowned,  who  live  above  the  fog 
In  public  duty  and  in  private  thinking. 

The  Initiative,  Referendum,  and  Recall 

116.   Direct    Legislation ;     the    Initiative.  —  Democratic  Why  officials 
government  consists  of  much  more  than  the  selection  by  the  ^^^^°^  ^^  ^° 
public  of  certain  elected  or  appointed  officials  to  represent  do  as  the 
the  people.     In  the  making  or  enforcing  or  interpreting  of  i>^^^<^ 
laws  it  is  sometimes  difficult  for  even  well-informed  officials 
to  know  what  the  public  wants.     Very  often  certain  high- 
minded  officials  refuse  to  do  what  the  public  desires  because 
they  feel  that  the  best  interests  of  the  public  demand  some- 
thing different  from  that  which  it  wants.     Far  more  fre- 
quently the  public  is  misrepresented  by  officials  who  are 
selfish  or  who  recognize   as  their  masters  not  the  public 
but  some  boss  or  corporation  or  interest.     For  the  solution  of 
some  of  these  problems  we  have  developed  two  forms  of  direct 
legislation,   which   are   known   as   the   initiative   and    the 
referendum. 

"  By  the  initiative  is  meant  the  right  of  a  stated  percent-   Definition  of 
age  of  the  voters,  in  any  state  or  municipahty,  to  propose   ^"^tiative. 
both  constitutional  and  ordinary  laws,  and  to  require  that, 
if  these  be  not  enacted  forthwith  by  the  state  or  municipality 
legislatures,  they  further  be  submitted  for  ratification  to  the 
whole  body  of  voters."  ^ 

The  initiative  in  the  form  of  a  petition  has  existed  in  the  Twentieth 
United  States  since  early  colonial   times.     During  recent  century  prog 

,,....,          /  ,  .      -  ,  ^         ,      .    ress  of  the 

years  the  mitiative  has  been  adopted,  for  the  proposal  of  initiative, 
local  ordinances  or  state  laws,  in  a  number  of  our  states, 
particularly  in  the  middle  West  and  the  extreme  West. 
The  first  of  these  to  use  the  initiative  with  the  referendum 
was  South  Dakota  in  1898.  By  1916  eighteen  of  the  forty- 
eight   states,    usually   by   constitutional   amendment,    had 

^  Munro,  Initiative,  Referendum,  and  Recall,  p.  i. 


126 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Use  of  the 
referendum 
before  1900. 


Referendum 
in  connection 
with  state 
laws. 


arranged  for  the  use  of  the  initiative  ^  and  referendum 
together. 2 

117.  The  Referendum.  —  The  referendum,  or  popular 
ratification  of  laws,  has  existed  in  some  form  within  the 
United  States  since  the  Revolution.  It  was  at  first  re- 
stricted to  constitutions,  with  constitutional  amendments 
added  but  Uttle  later.  It  is  now  used  universally  for  both 
of  those.  Before  1840  it  had  been  introduced  in  connection 
with  certain  local  laws  passed  by  the  state  legislatures,  which 
became  valid  if  approved  by  a  specified  percentage  of  the 
voters  in  the  district  to  which  the  law  applied.  During  the 
later  nineteenth  century  the  referendum  was  introduced  for 
local  laws  and  bond  elections.  This  use  survives  and  has  been 
extended.^ 

The  distinctively  modern  use  of  the  referendum  is  con- 
nected with  the  ratification  of  state  laws.  If  a  state  law  has 
been  proposed  by  initiative,  and  the  legislature  has  neglected 
to  act  upon  that  law,  a  referendary  vote  on  it  is  taken  at 
the  next  election.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  legislature  has 
passed  a  law  which  is  disapproved  by  many  people,  they  can 
on  petition  temporarily  suspend  the  law  and  compel  the 
government  to  submit  it  to  popular  vote.  When  people 
speak  of  the  referendum,  they  refer  to  this  use  of  it,  because 


1  Comparatively  few  measures  have  been  proposed  through  the  initiative. 
Of  these  practically  none  have  been  adopted  by  the  voters  outside  of  the  single 
sta{e  of  Oregon. 

2  For  the  proposal  of  state  laws  the  initiative  petition  must  be  signed  by  from 
five  to  eight  per  cent  of  the  voters  who  took  part  in  the  previous  election.  Con- 
stitutional amendments  may  be  proposed  by  eight  per  cent,  but  sometimes  fifteen 
per  cent  are  required.  It  is  difficult  to  secure  even  this  small  percentage  over 
an  area  as  large  as  most  of  our  states.  In  the  proposal  of  local  ordinances  or 
measures  a  much  larger  percentage  of  the  voters  is  required,  usually  from  fiftetn 
to  thirty  per  cent,  because  it  is  easier  to  get  that  percentage  in  a  small  community 
than  it  is  to  get  even  five  per  cent  of  the  voters  of  an  entire  state. 

3  The  vote  of  a  county  may  be  necessary  upon  such  subjects  as  the  division 
into  two  or  more  counties,  location  of  the  county  seat,  the  sale  of  bonds  for 
various  objects,  and  upon  the  sale  of  liquor.  In  many  states  cities  are  never 
incorporated  without  popular  vote,  nor  are  districts  annexed  to  a  city  without 
their  consent.  More  and  more  the  city  councils  are  being  restricted  in  the  appro- 
priation or  borrowing  of  money,  unless  they  have  first  called  special  elections 
and  obtained  the  consent  of  the  voters. 


INITIATIVE  AND   REFERENDUM 


127 


only  the  modern  form  of  the  initiative  and  referendum  de- 
serves to  be  called  direct  legislation. 

118.  Use  of  Direct  Legislation.  —  It  is  somewhat  sur- 
prising that  the  initiative  and  the  modern  referendum  for  state 
laws  have  not  been  used  very  extensively  outside  of  the  single 
state  of  Oregon.  In  three  fourths  of  the  eighteen  states 
which  had  the  initiative  and  referendum  before  19 16,  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  not  more  than  a  dozen  measures  which  were 


Limited  use 
of  direct legia 
lation. 


INITIATIVE  &  REEERENDLH 
1916 

Direct  legislation  in 

most  complete  form 

Complete  except  for  initiative 
for  constitutioiial     -  -    ' — '■ 
Referendum  only. 
No  direct  legislsl 


submitted  were  approved  by  the  people.  In  Oregon,  on  the 
contrary,  from  the  very  beginning  the  initiative  and  the 
referendum  have  been  used  extensively.^ 

In  general  we  notice  that  the  referendary  vote  which  is  Compara- 
given  upon  a,ny  measure  is  ordinarily  much  smaller  than  tiveiy  small 
the  vote  at  the  same  election  for  officials  such  as  governor  direct  legis- 
and  members  of  the  state  legislature.     This  does  not  neces-   lation. 
sarily  show  a  lack  of  interest  in  the  proposed  law  by  the 
voters;   but  it  may  indicate  the  difficulties  encountered  by 

^  In  1910,  for  example,  the  number  of  measures  submitted  to  the  people  of 
Oregon  was  thirty-two,  of  which,  however,  only  nine  were  adopted.  In  some 
other  Oregon  elections  about  two  thirds  of  the  measures  submitted  have  been 
approved  by  the  voters. 


128 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


The  Refer- 
endum as  i 
check  on 
the  people. 


The  use  of 
the  referen- 
dum in 
finance. 


Good  influ- 
ence of  the 
initiative. 


the  voter  in  forming  an  opinion  on  the  merits  of  the  pro- 
posed law. 

119.  Advantages  of  Direct  Legislation.  —  The  indirect 
influence  of  the  referendum  can  be  estimated  only  imper- 
fectly, but  it  has  certainly  acted  as  a  serious  check  upon 
constitutional  conventions  and  legislatures.  Moreover,  it 
has  educated  the  people  concerning  the  nature  of  our  political 
institutions,  because  they  are  more  interested  in  those 
things  in  which  they  take  part.  When  used  for  local  affairs, 
it  guarantees  local  autonomy  under  general  state  laws  which 
insure  a  certain  necessary  degree  of  uniformity.  So  long  as 
it  acts  in  this  way  as  a  conservative  force,  dealing  solely  with 
matters  of  importance,  it  possesses  a  marked  value  for  both 
the  people  and  the  government. 

Where  it  takes  the  final  decision  on  matters  of  finance 
out  of  the  hands  of  county  boards,  city  councils,  or  boards 
of  pubhc  works,  it  prevents  official  corruption,  which  was 
common  a  few  years  ago.  If  the  granting  of  franchises  is 
always  subject  to  popular  vote,  there  is  less  danger  that 
corporations  can  influence  the  government  to  their  own  ad- 
vantage. Until  we  reach  that  desirable  condition  where 
not  even  a  fair  proportion  of  our  representatives  ''  have  their 
price,"  direct  popular  participation  in  the  affairs  of  the 
government,  whether  for  city  finance  or  senatorial  elections, 
will  be  sought  as  the  great  remedy  for  political  ills. 

The  initiative  gives  opportunity  to  force  legislative  as- 
semblies to  respect  pubhc  wishes,  for  it  may  demand  a 
popular  vote  on  the  subject  presented.  The  existence  of  a 
means  to  pass  laws  without  consulting  the  legislature  makes 
that  body  chary  of  ignoring  bills  which  are  likely  to  become 
statutes  through  the  initiative  and  the  referendum.  To  pro- 
tect its  own  powers  and  preserve  its  dignity,  the  legislature 
itself  is  therefore  likely  to  approve  bills  which  the  people 
desire.  For  this  reason  it  may  become  a  more  representa- 
tive organization. 

120.  Defects  of  Direct  Legislation.  —  There  is  a  vast 
difference  between  the  referendum  and  initiative  as  popular 


INITIATIVE  AND   REFERENDUM  1 29 

checks  upon  the  government  and  as  means  of  actual  legisla-   Direct  legis- 
tion.     The  business  of  government,  hke  any  other  business,  ^^^°^  ^^- 

,    .  .  represents.- 

requires  full  knowledge,  thorough  training,  and  wise  ex-  tivegovem- 
perience.  As  we  noted  above,  American  government  has  ment. 
been  preeminently  republican  in  character,  that  is,  government 
through  representatives.  The  representatives  should  be  se- 
lected because  of  their  fitness  for  the  duties  that  they  are 
asked  to  perform.  If  this  is  not  done,  the  law  will  lose  in 
unity  and  in  character  just  in  proportion  as  it  becomes 
popular. 

There  are  certain  features  of  lawmaking  which  every  adult  Advantages 
ought  to  understand,  but  to  expect  that  each  voter  is  fitted  of  legislatior 

1  r  1         1      •  /•  1  1  .         .  ,  by  compe- 

properly  to  perform  the  duties  of  lawmakmg  is  more  than  tent  legis- 
unreasonable,  it  is  ridiculous.  The  original  drafts  of  prac-  Jators. 
tically  all  laws,  even  when  made  by  experts,  are  more  or  less 
defective.  Discussion  of  proposed  legislation  in  two  branches 
of  a  legislature  tends  to  remove  some  of  these  defects.  In 
direct  legislation  the  laws  have  none  of  these  advantages 
and  are  likely  to  be  drawn  up  poorly  and  therefore  exceed- 
ingly unsatisfactory  in  form.  Moreover,  at  every  election 
many  who  vote  on  officials  neglect  to  vote  on  laws  or  con- 
stitutional amendments  submitted  for  popular  ratification. 

When  the  functions  of  government  are  assumed  by  the  How  direct 
people,  and  less  dependence  is  placed  upon  the  legislatures,  {^gisiation 
less  care  is  taken  also  to  secure  suitable  persons  to  make  the  legislature 
laws.     The  truth  of  this  statement  is  shown  in  the  com-  and  de- 
position of  our  state  legislatures  and  our  city  councils,  both  sponSiMy 
of  which  have  been  shorn  of  many  powers  in  the  last  half 
century.     An  extension  of  direct  legislation  will  aggravate 
these  serious  evils  (§  194).     Instead  of  making  our   legis- 
lative  bodies   more   directly   responsible,   we   are   reducing 
responsibility  for  legislatures  through  the  initiative  and  the 
referendum. 

121.   The  Recall.  —  The  recall  is  the  right  of  any  group  of  Nature  and 
voters  to  remove  any  elected  official  from  office  before  the  ^^^^^  *^^ 
expiration  of  his  term.     When  any  ofiicial  fails  in  the  opin- 
ion of  his  constituents  to  carry  out  their  wishes  in  the  making 

K 


I30 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Advantages 
and  disad- 
vantages of 
the  recall. 


Recall  of 
judges  and 
judicial  deci- 
sions. 


of  laws  or  in  the  administration  of  government,  some  right 
of  removal  is  necessary  if  they  are  to  be  properly  represented.^ 
The  recall  was  used  first  in  connection  with  local  offices,  but 
by  1916  it  had  been  adopted  in  seven  states  of  the  extreme 
West  and  in  three  other  states  for  most  state  and  local  offices. 
In  four  of  these,  however,  it  does  not  apply  to  judges.^ 

The  recall  is  a  very  effective,  although  rather  dangerous, 
instrument  for  securing  responsibility  of  elected  officials.  By 
the  use  of  the  recall  it  is  possible  to  have  longer  terms  for 
elected  officers,  without  the  officials  getting  out  of  touch 
with  the  people.  It  may,  therefore,  help  us  to  keep 
democratic  government  without  depending  on  objectionable 
short  terms.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  danger  that  an 
elected  official  through  fear  of  removal  might  become  a  dele- 
gate rather  than  a  responsible  representative  of  the  people. 
It  would  be  far  better  to  allow  a  representative  to  use  his  own 
judgment  than  to  have  his  own  will  and  opinions  dominated 
by  his  constituents. 

The  dangers  of  the  recall  have  been  particularly  empha- 
sized in  connection  with  the  judiciary,  which  we  wish  to  keep 
independent  not  only  of  legislatures  and  executives  but  of 
popular  pressure  as  well.  Not  only  have  several  states 
which  have  adopted  the  recall  exempted  all  judges  from  its 
operation,  but  its  use  has  been  limited  by  the  fear  that 
judges  may  be  dominated  by  the  people.^    It  has  been  sug- 


*  Before  the  adoption  of  the  recall,  provision  was  made  in  state  and  national 
constitutions,  or  in  supplementary  laws,  for  the  removal  of  important  civil 
oflScers  by  impeachment  and  the  expulsion  of  members  of  legislatures  by  the 
body  to  which  they  belonged. 

^  If  the  people  wish  to  institute  recall  proceedings,  a  certain  percentage  of 
the  voters  in  the  district  from  which  the  unsatisfactory  ofl&cial  was  elected  ask 
for  a  new  election  in  which  the  incumbent  must  compete  on  equal  terms  with 
other  candidates  for  his  position.  Unless  some  other  candidate  receives  a  higher 
vote  than  the  incumbent,  he  retains  the  place  for  the  remainder  of  the  term 
for  which  he  was  elected  originally. 

^  President  Taft  refused  to  let  Arizona  enter  the  Union  until  the  prospective 
state  had  removed  from  her  state  constitution  the  provision  by  which  judges 
might  be  recalled.  At  that  time  Theodore  Roosevelt  suggested  the  recall  of 
judicial  decisions.  The  recall  of  judicial  decisions,  however,  has  been  adopted 
by  only  one  state,  and  is  evidently  not  the  solution  of  the  problem. 


POPULAR   CONTROL  131 

gested  that  the  people  should  have  the  right  to  recall,  not 
the  judge,  but  any  specific  judicial  decision. 

General  References 

Hart,  Actual  Government,  86-112. 

Lowell,  Public  Opinion  and  Popular  Government,  Part  II. 

Bryce,  The  American  Commonwealth,  II,  Part  III. 

Beard,  American  Government  and  Politics,  Chaps.  VII,  XXIII,  XXX. 

Macy,  Party  Organization  and  Machinery. 

Woodburn,  Political  Parties  and  Party  Problems. 

Ostrogorski,  Democracy  and  the  Party  System. 

Fish,  Civil  Service  and  the  Patronage. 

Young,  The  New  American  Government,  549-627. 

Reinsch,  Readings  on  American  Federal  Government,  683-702. 

Munro  (ed.).  The  Initiative,  Referendum,  and  Recall. 

Beard  and  Schultz,  Documents  on  Initiative,  Referendum,  and  Recall. 

Wilcox,  Government  by  All  the  People. 

Oberholtzer,  The  Referendum,  Initiative,  and  Recall  in  America. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  43  (1912),  3-31,  65-109,  203-215. 

Jones,  Readings  on  Parties  and  Elections,  1-52,  169-354. 

Topics 

The  Machine:  Macy,  Party  Organization  and  Machinery,  96-110; 
Woodburn,  Political  Parties  and  Party  Problems,  242-265 ;  Bryce, 
American  Commonwealth,  II,  82-141 ;  Jones,  Readings  on  Parties  and 
Elections,  169-2 11 ;  Ostrogorski,  Democracy  and  the  Party  System,  225-  281. 

The  Progress  of  Civil  Service  Reform  :  Roosevelt,  T.,  in  Atlan- 
tic Monthly,  75  (1895),  239-246;  Larned  (ed.),  History  for  Ready  Refer- 
ence, VI,  145-148 ;  Shaw,  W.  B.,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  31  (1905),  317-324. 

The  Initiative  :  Munro  (ed.).  The  Initiative,  Referendum,  and  Recall, 
1-57 ;  Hendrick,  B.  J.,  in  McClure's  Magazine,  37  (1911),  435-450 ;  Taft, 
Popular  Government,  42-95 ;  Oberholtzer,  Referendum,  Initiative,  and 
Recall  in  America,  368-389,  391  et  seq. 

The  Recall:  McL'^ughlin  and  Hart  (eds.).  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Government,  III,  157-159;.  Oberholtzer,  Referendum,  Initiative,  and  Re- 
call in  America,  454-470;  Taft,  Popular  Government,  168-174;  Munro 
(ed.).  The  Initiative,  Referendum,  and  Recall,  298-320;  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy,  43  (1912),  216-236;  Wilcox,  Government  by  All  the 
People,  169-210. 

Studies 

I.  The  National  Committee.  Young,  The  New  American  Govern^ 
ment,  549-553- 


132  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

2.  State  party  organization.  Macy,  Party  Organization  and  Ma- 
chinery, 96-110. 

3.  Party  j&nance.  Macy,  Party  Organization  and  Machinery,  218- 
229. 

4.  The  spoils  system.  Woodburn,  Political  Parties  and  the  Party 
Problems,  254-265. 

5.  Popular  control  through  the  ballot.  Beard,  American  Government 
and  Politics,  469-487. 

6.  Public  administration  as  a  profession.  Gilbertson,  H.  S.,  in  Re- 
view of  Reviews,  47  (1913),  599-602;    The  Public  Servant,  May,  1916. 

7.  Direct  legislation  in  Oregon.  Munro  (ed.) ,  The  Initiative,  Referen- 
dum, and  Recall,  217-297. 

8.  Advantages  of  direct  legislation.  Munro  (ed.).  The  Initiative, 
Referendum,  and  Recall,  194-216. 

9.  Disadvantages  of  direct  legislation.  Munro  (ed.).  The  Initiative, 
Referendum,  and  Recall,  126-138. 

10.  The  recall  in  Los  Angeles.     Stilson,  F.  J.,  in  National  Conference 
of  Good  City  Government  (1909),  326-333. 

Questions 

1.  Has  a  political  party  control  of  this  state?  of  this  city?  What 
proportion  of  state  legislators  belong  to  each  party?  How  long  since 
the  present  minority  party  had  control  of  your  state  ?  Do  a  fair  propor- 
tion of  the  voters  of  your  locality  vote  independently  in  local  elections  ? 

2.  Explain  the  organization  of  a  political  party  in  your  state.  Show 
how  money  is  raised  for  party  expenses.  Do  any  of  the  party  leaders 
receive  a  salary?  Should  they  not  be  compensated  in  some  way? 
How? 

3.  Give  three  objections  to  the  spoils  system.  State  where  it  is  used 
at  present. 

4.  Give  briefly  the  history  of  civil  service  reform.  To  what  extent 
is  it  used  by  the  national  government?  in  cities?  What  problems  have 
not  been  solved  by  competitive  examinations?  Why  is  good  govern- 
ment more  important  than  popular  government? 

5.  What  abuses  and  failures  led  to  the  use  of  direct  legislation? 
What  is  the  difference  between  the  referendum  adopted  in  recent  years 
and  that  first  used  in  the  last  century?  Explain  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages of  direct  legislation. 

6.  Compare  the  recall  of  judges  and  official  decisions  as  means  of 
(i)  carrying  out  the  popular  will,  (2)  improving  our  governments, 
(3)  maintaining  the  independence  of  the  judiciary. 

7.  Define  or  explain  these  terms :  machine,  spellbinding,  slate,  boss, 
ring,  graft,  initiative,  referendum,  recall. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
CIVIL  LIBERTY  AND  PUBLIC  WELFARE 

122.   Individual  Rights  and  Social  Progress.  —  The  theory  How  general 
that  he  creates  his  own  government  is  of  httle  value  to  the  ^^^^[^^a? 
citizen,  if  in  fact  he  does  not.     The  fact  that  he  actually  liberty  are 
does  create  and  control  his  government  is  of  no  more  value  inseparable, 
to  him  if  that  government  fails  to  perform  the   two  pur-     , 
poses  for  which  it  was  created,  namely,  (i)  the  protection  of 
society  and  the  promotion  of  general  welfare y  and  (2)  the  safe- 
guarding of  the  rights  of  individual  citizens.     It  is  necessary 
that  government  do  both  of  these  things ;  for  it  does  not  safe- 
guard the  real  rights  of  its  individual  citizens  or  care  for 
their  best  interests  unless  it  does  what  is  best  also  for  society 
in  general,  nor  can  its  work  properly  protect  the  people  col- 
lectively if  it  sacrifices  their  rights  individually.     We  can 
see  this  clearly  if  we  examine  more  fully  each  group  or  class 
of  individual  rights. 

We  have  already  noticed  in  the  first  chapter  of  this  book  Classes  of 
that  individual  rights  are  of  many  kinds;  for  example,  (i)  "^^^^• 
protection  against  arbitrary  action  on  the  part  of  the  govern- 
ment, (2)  protection  against  other  individuals  who  may  in- 
jure us  intentionally  or  unconsciously,  (3)  protection  against 
dangers  which  arise  from  the  rights  of  others,  or  from  persons 
of  wealth  and  influence  with  whom  we  have  dealings,  and 
(4)  the  safeguarding  of  opportunities  such  as  good  homes, 
sanitary  surroundings,  and  a  chance  for  a  good  education. 

Civil  liberty  includes  all  of  the  individual  rights  which  we  Close  connec- 
have  under  or  against  our  governments.     Political  liberty  ^!°^  between 
includes  all  privileges  which  are  enjoyed  by  a  citizen  who  political  lib- 
shares  in  the  work  of  government.     With  very  good  reason  erty. 
we  believe  that  democracy  and  liberty  are  closely  connected, 

133 


134 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


for  world  history  is  filled  with  examples  of  arbitrary  rulers 
who  oppressed  their  unfortunate  subjects.  It  is  not  nec- 
essarily true,  however,  that  a  popular  government  best  pro- 
tects a  people  from  dangers  or  safeguards  their  opportunities. 
It  all  depends  on  whether  popular  government  is  the  best  gov- 
ernment} 


Bills  of 
rights  in 
English  and 
American 
history. 


The  national 
bill  of  rights. 


Need  of 
state  bills  of 
rights 
to-day. 


Our  American  Bills  of  Rights 

123.   Constitutional  Protection  through  Bills  of  Rights.  — 

In  past  centuries,  when  kings  ruled  arbitrarily  and  royal 
governors  disregarded  the  wishes  of  the  people,  it  was  nec- 
essary for  the  people  to  protect  themselves  by  laws  and 
documents  such  as  Magna  Carta  (12 15),  the  Petition  of 
Right  (1628),  the  EngHsh  Bill  of  Rights  (1689),  and  the  bills 
of  rights  in  our  first  state  constitutions.  The  bills  of  rights 
in  our  national  and  state  constitutions  at  present  are  sur- 
vivals of  the  old  form  of  civil  Hberty ;  that  is,  protection  of 
the  individual  against  the  tyranny  of  the  government  or  of  any 
government  official.  Although  we  rarely  suffer  from  ar- 
bitrary interference  by  our  governments,  it  is  still  essential 
that  we  have  constitutional  provisions  which,  if  necessary, 
guarantee  to  us  as  individuals  protection  from  our  rulers. 

When  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  drawn  up 
in  1787,  no  provision  was  made  for  a  national  bill  of  rights, 
but  several  states  refused  to  ratify  the  Constitution  until 
their  leaders  promised  to  propose  constitutional  amend- 
ments which  would  provide  such  a  bill  of  rights.  These 
national  guarantees  of  liberty  which  are  contained  in  the 
first  ten  amendments  protect  us,  however,  only  against 
national  officials,  not  against  officials  of  the  state  and  local 
governments. 

Protection  against  state  officials  comes  chiefly  from  the 
bills  of  rights  in  our  state  constitutions.  We  can  reahze 
the  importance  of  these  state  bills  if  we  understand  that  under 

1  Nearly  a  century  ago,  a  very  ardent  admirer  of  American  institutions,  an 
acute  observer  named  De  Tocqueville,  warned  us  against  the  danger  to  the 
minority  of  the  tyranny  oj  the  majority. 


AMERICAN  BILLS  OF  RIGHTS 


135 


our  federal  system  of  government  (§  66)  the  state  and  local 
governments  make  and  execute  almost  all  of  the  laws  that 
concern  our  everyday  affairs.  We  can  appreciate,  there- 
fore, the  need  of  having  state  bills  of  rights  which  guarantee 
to  the  individual  freedom  from  interference  in  his  home,  his 
religion,  and  his  business. 

124.   Freedom  of  Speech,   Press,   and  Petition.  —  It  is 
difficult  for  a  twentieth  century  American  to  realize  how  many 


th«  oouolry  of  I 

ciLizen  or  tubjwl  of 

citiMubip  is,  iadtxl,  ft  coatradiction  i 


I>b» 

Imosi 

loritr 


i»  th«     party,  vu 


SOCIALIST  POWER  FOR  PEACE 

BEHIND  THE  PLEA  FOR  PEACE  ud  the  protnt  tciliiil 
ft  policy  of  flooqu«sl  ftad  ftnnexfttion  conUined  in  ih«  re- 
«lll  iMoifntoes  of  I  ho  fionfti  DrroornU  of  Oarmftny, 
our  pnn  wriMn  hftvo  boon  wondarisc  In  whftl  purpoaaa  of  the 
Oormftn  OovernisMif,  whftl  deairos  ftod  foan  of  tha  German 
people?  One  sUteineDt,  which  »a  quota  oa  pa(e  S3,  caused 
tha  immadlata  luipeiuioo  at  Vervdrta,  which  published  it; 
but  a  later  ampliflcfttion,  issued  by  the  (ovcmine  board  of  the 
party,  was  passed  by  the  censor.  Does  this  mean,  aa  the  New 
Yorker  Henld  asserts,  "that  tha  German  Govemmeat  hopes 
throu(h  the  mediation  of  the  International  to  put  an  end  to  tlie 
terrible  strucsle.  now  that  Germany*!  invincibility  has  been 
proved  ?  "  Or  i<  the  Socialist  demand  for  peace  to  bo  inlorpreie.1, 
as  the  New  York  Evening  Pott  does  intcnxvl  it. 'as  a  "confession 
of  deadlock  "  on  tho  part  of  the  German  nation?  There  hid  been 
ft  widespread  belief  amone  American  editors  that  (he  wnr,  as 
an  Italian  writer  once  put  it,  had  "upset  tho  Intcmational 
Socialist  party  and  in  its  place  eroaled  veritablo  *Nation&]i■^t 
ps.  outlive  the  war  itself."  '  Now  thero 
9  the  part  this  same  "International" 
will  play  in  brinpne  about  the  firvt  overtures  toward  ending  the 
war.  and  the  inlluenee  it  will  have  upon  the  final  terms  of  peace. 
New  York  SociaUsts,  like  Mr.  Allan  L.  Benson  and  Morris 
IliUquit,  call  tho  action  of  the  German  Social  Democrats  a 
"hopeful  slgA"  pointing  toward  the  end  of  tho  war.  Coagnafi- 
man  Meyer  London  says,  as  quoted  in  Iho  Now.  York  Sun: 

"I  expect  the  appeal  of  the  German  Social  Democracy  will  be 
favorably  responded  to  by  Iho  Socialists  of  the  other  belliicorenl 
eountries.  I  expect  the  Sociii]i<«t  parties  of  neutral  oountrte«  wilt 
urge  tho  Belgian.  French,  and  EnKlish  Sooialists  to  reepond  to  the 
appeal  of  tho  Gorman  Social  Domooraoy.  No  annexation  of 
territory,  no  subjugation  of  small  nationalities, 
tho  war  upon  a  basis  w 
now  the  motto  of  the  Socialist  i __., _. 

"The  voice  of  tho  German  Social  Democracy  is  tho  voice  of  tho 
futuro  democracy  of  Oonnany.    It  is  the  voico  of  ft  '" 
Europe" 

Somewhat  lo»  optimistic  and  more  giiarded  in  its 
is  that  most  conspicuous  Soeiulist  daily  of  the  Fast. 
Y«rkCa/l.    We  r«ftd  in  one  of  its  I 


man  ought  to  be  allowed  ( 


Courtesy  of  The  Literary  Digest. 
CENSORSfflP   OF   AN   AMERICAN   MAGAZINE   IN   RUSSIA. 


people  in  the  past  and  even  in  the  present,  when  they  have  Right  to 
been  treated  unjustly,  have  been  denied  by  their  governments  petition  for  a 
the  right  to  ask  for  a  redress  of  grievances.     It  would  seem  grievances, 
as  though  any  government,  however  arbitrary,  would  at  least 
confer  upon  its  people  this  power  of  petition  as  a  privilege, 
if  not  as  a  right.    Yet  students  of  history  recall  that  one  of 


136 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Why  there 
can  be  no 
real  liberty 
without  free- 
dom of 
speech  and 
the  press. 


Develop- 
ment of  reli- 
gious tolera- 
tion and 
liberty. 


the  most  important  of  the  EngUsh  revolutions,  that  of  1688, 
was  started  when  King  James  II  and  his  courts  denied  to 
certain  bishops  the  right  of  petition. 

It  would  be  a  misnomer  to  call  our  country  ''  the  land  of 
the  free  "  if  a  person  were  liable  to  arrest  and  imprisonment 
for  speaking  his  thoughts. ^  Certainly  no  hberty  is  possible 
unless  freedom  of  speech  is  granted.  There  is  no  greater 
difference  between  democratic  America  and  the  arbitrarily 
ruled  monarchies  of  central  and  eastern  Europe  than  this 
freedom  to  speak  one'?  opinion  on  all  subjects,  including  the 
right  to  criticize  our  government  and  its  policies.  Freedom 
of  the  press  is  almost  as  necessary  for  a  self-governing  people. ^ 
If  our  newspapers  cannot  give  the  facts  of  anything  that 
takes  place  in  business  or  society  or  government  without 
being  punished  for  their  audacity,  we  should  soon  lose  any 
semblance  of  real  self-government.^ 

125.  Freedom  of  Thought.  —  Freedom  of  speech  and 
the  press  are  only  two  of  many  evidences  of  freedom  of 
thought.  The  right  to  one's  own  beliefs  is  possibly  the 
most  precious  heritage  of  English-speaking  peoples.  In 
past  ages  this  right  has  been  denied  by  kings  and  by  churches 
which  controlled  the  government.  In  other  words,  it  has 
been  exercised  chiefly  in  the  realm  of  religion.'*    In  prac- 

1  By  "act  of  Congress  the  right  of  freedom  of  speech  does  not  extend  to 
anarchistic  utterances,  or  speeches  or  writings  aimed  against  order,  the  estab- 
lished government,  and  enciting  to  assassination  or  crime."  —  Stimson,  Popular 
Law  Making,  pp.  301-302. 

2  In  practically  all  of  the  states  the  constitutions  assert  that  persons  who 
seek  in  speech  or  in  public  print  to  injure  the  reputation  of  others  shall  be  liable 
to  punishment.  State  laws  specify  that  in  a  suit  for  libel  the  truth  may  be  intro- 
duced for  evidence  and  that  malicious  intent  on  the  part  of  the  speaker  or  writer 
must  be  proved. 

3  In.  past  centuries  the  few  newspapers  published  were  either  controlled  or 
severely  censored  by  the  government.  In  Europe  to-day  censors  regulate  very 
definitely  what  shall  and  what  shall  not  be  published  by  the  press.  In  America 
the  government  does  not  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  the  press  and  suppress 
news  which  would  be  unpleasant  to  public  officials;  on  the  contrary  we  tend 
to  err  on  the  other  side. 

^  Centuries  ago  there  was  absolute  uniformity  in  the  religious  beliefs  held 
by  all  persons  throughout  western  Europe.  Then  came  the  rise  of  nationalities 
and  the  demand  on  the  part  of  each  nation  to  decide  its  religious  beliefs  for 
itself.    Although  there  were  more  beliefs  after  the  Reformation,  there  was  not 


AMERICAN  BILLS  OF  RIGHTS  137 

tically  all  of  the  American  colonies  there  were  state  churches 
and  in  only  a  few  was  there  even  toleration  for  other  re- 
ligious faiths.  During  the  Revolutionary  War  or  soon  after, 
however,  the  state  churches  were  abolished  and  religious 
liberty  was  established  throughout  the  United  States. 

It  is  eminently  fitting  that  in  this  country,  where  religious  Religious 
freedom  was  permitted  when  religious  persecution  existed  ^j^erty  m 
everjrwhere  else  in  the  world,  our  state  bills  of  rights  should  to-day. 
provide  for   the  fullest  liberty  in   religious   matters.     No 
state  allows  its  governments  to  dictate  to  any  one  what 
church  he  shall  attend  or  compels  him  to  contribute  to  the 
support  of  any  church,  the  establishment  of  state  churches 
being    everywhere    forbidden.     No    person    is    disqualified 
from  holding   office  or   exercising   civil   rights  because  of 
his  religious  views,  although  a  few  of  the  older  states  make 
belief  in  the  Diety  a  prerequisite  for  holding  certain  offices. 
Nevertheless,  socially  dangerous  practices  such  as  polygamy 
are  punished  as  crimes  even  when  permitted  or  sanctioned 
by  a  religious  sect. 

126.  Constitutional  Rights  of  a  Person  Accused  of  Crime.  General 
—  In  one  sense  an  even  more  fundamental  form  of  personal  provisions, 
freedom  is  the  right  to  life.  Since  the  public  wishes  to 
protect  itseK  from  wrongdoers,  it  is  in  the  habit  of  punish- 
ing them  by  imprisonment  or  death.  In  order  that  an 
innocent  person  may  not  be  unfairly  subjected  to  these 
punishments  proposed  for  offenders,  all  American  state 
bills  of  rights  provide  many  safeguards  for  a  person  accused 
of  crime. 

No  accused  person  may  be  tried  secretly  or  without  proper  Specific 
opportunity  to  present  his  witnesses  for  defense.     His  trial  safeguards. 
must  be  held  as  soon  as  possible  in  open  court,  and  before  a 
jury  of  his  peers  or  equals.     He  may  not  even  be  held  for 
trial  unless  a  written  charge  has  been  filed  against  him. 

more  religious  toleration  or  liberty,  since  each  state  had  its  own  state  church 
to  which  every  one  must  conform.  Gradually  in  Holland  and  in  some  other 
countries  others  besides  members  of  the  state  church  were  tolerated.  Not 
until  Roger  Williams,  in  the  little  colony  of  Rhode  Island,  refrained  from  estab- 
lishing a  state  church  was  there  religious  liberty. 


138  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

Except  for  crimes  punishable  by  death,  the  accused  has  the 
opportunity  of  offering  bail,  which  is  forfeited  if  he  fails  to 
appear  on  the  day  appointed.  He  is  not  required  to  testify 
against  himself  and  cannot  be  punished  if  a  single  juryman 
beheves  him  innocent.  If  he  has  been  acquitted,  he  may 
not  be  tried  again  on  the  same  charge,  nor,  if  convicted,  may 
he  be  subjected  to  unusual  fines  or  punishment.  In  fact, 
not  only  the  constitutional  safeguards  for  persons  accused  of 
crime,  but  our  whole  system  of  administration  of  justice  (§136), 
protects,  accused  persons  so  well  that  many  undoubtedly 
guilty  men  escape  and  society  is  therefore  inadequately 
protected. 

Safeguarding  of  Modern  Social  Rights 

Why  our  127.  Freedom  of  Action. : —  Experience  of  more  than  a 

bills  of  rights   century  with  the  bills  of  rights  in  our  national  and  state 
aU  rightT^^'^    constitutions  has  convinced  us  quite  thoroughly  that  they 
which  need      have  safeguarded  the  citizen  against  such  arbitrary  govern- 
protection.      ment  as  existed  in  England  several  centuries  ago  and  in  some 
of  the  American  colonies  before  the  Revolutionary  War. 
Our  modern  governments,  however,  are  radically  different 
from  those  of  preceding  centuries.     Modern  conditions  also 
have  changed  in  a  great  many  respects.     In  case  of  emer- 
gency we  still  need  protection  from  military  government. 
We  still  find  that  freedom  of  speech  is  suppressed  in  the 
streets   by  the  police,  we  still    find  occasionally  that  an 
innocent  person  accused  of  crime  is  punished;    but  these 
limitations  of  civil  rights  are  few  in  number  compared  with 
the  limitations  on  citizens  as  workers  and  active  members 
of  society  to-day. 
Protection  In  modern  America,  fortunately,  neither  law  nor  custom 

of  workers  prevents  a  citizen  from  living  where  he  pleases  and  engaging 
rance\nd^°  in  an  Occupation  in  which  he  may  earn  a  living,  but  these 
the  "coercion  rights  may  be  denied  unless  our  governments  really  and 
of  ^economic  actually  care  for  the  citizens  who  labor.  For  example,  a 
government  must  protect  its  citizens  as  far  as  possible  from 


MODERN  SOCIAL  RIGHTS  139 

bondage  due  to  the  "  coercion  of  economic  forces."  This 
phrase  may  be  made  clearer  by  some  illustrations.  In  an- 
cient times  slavery  existed,  one  man  being  owned  by  another. 
As  slavery  is  no  longer  legal,  our  government  must  see  that 
in  the  business  world  one  man  or  group  of  men  cannot  domi- 
nate the  actions  of  others  to  such  an  extent  that  members 
of  the  second  group  have  no  real  control  over  the  places  in 
which  they  live,  the  kind  of  work  which  they  do,  and  the 
remuneration  which  they  receive.  In  the  South  even  in 
recent  years  there  have  been  instances  of  peonage  in  which 
the  Uberty  of  the  individual  has  been  limited  in  all  of  these 
respects.  In  some  of  our  cities  in  which  there  are  three 
unskilled  applicants  for  every  ordinary  vacancy,  there  is 
danger  that  similar  conditions  may  develop.  These  in- 
stances show  us  that  interference  with  liberty  of  action  is 
caused  largely  by  the  ignorance,  poverty,  or  lack  of  skill  of 
workers,  and  by  the  poor  distribution  of  labor.  Our  gov- 
ernments should  help  to  remove  these  causes. 

128.  Rights  of  Workers  and  of  Women.  —  Except  the  Right  to  at 
right  to  live  J  no  individual  right  is  greater  than  the  right  to  J_^^^^  ^  \\\va.g 
work.  No  society  is  more  unjust  than  that  which  denies  to 
a  willing  worker  the  right  to  earn  a  living  for  himself  and  for 
those  dependent  upon  him.  To  earn  a  living  means  more 
than  to  work  under  unfavorable  conditions.  It  means  at 
least  the  opportunity  to  earn  a  living  wage,  a  wage  with 
which  a  girl  away  from  home  can  maintain  a  good  standard 
of  living,  a  wage  by  which  a  head  of  a  family  can  provide 
food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  as  well  as  some  additional  nec- 
essaries or  comforts,  for  himself,  his  wife,  and  his  children. 
These  might  seem  like  commonplaces,  yet,  when  we  come 
to  study  labor  conditions  in  a  later  chapter  we  shall  find 
that  these  rights  have  been  denied  to  many  men,  women, 
and  children.  1 

Years  ago  we  believed  that  one  of   the  most  important 
duties  of  government  was  to  guarantee  absolute  freedom  in 
the  making  of  contracts.     We  still  believe  this,  but  it  means 
1  On  unfair  conditions  and  proposed  remedies  see  Chapter  XV. 


wage. 


I40 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


How  the 
p;iblic  should 
guarantee 
freedom  of 
contract. 


Property 
rights  of 
married 
women. 


more  to  us  now  than  it  did  then.  It  means  that  in  the  mak- 
ing of  a  contract  between  two  parties,  one  of  whom  is  richer^ 
more  powerful,  or  more  influential  than  the  other,  the  public 
should  see  that  the  weaker  party  gets  a  square  deal.  In 
other  words,  the  right  to  make  a  contiact  includes  not  only- 
apparent  voluntary  action  on  the  part  of  both  parties,  but 
comparative  equality  of  the  two  parties  so  that  the  contract 
made  is  fair  and  just.^ 

In  the  past,  a  married  woman  had  no  separate  legal  exist- 
ence aside  from  her  husband.  Consequently  her  property 
became  his  property  on  her  marriage,  and  could  be  invested, 
spent,  or  wasted  by  him  if  he  desired.  His  control  was  ab- 
solute. This  unjust  condition  of  affairs  is  passing  away, 
although  it  still  exists  in  some  American  states  and  in  many 
foreign  countries.  To-day  many  of  our  states  provide  that 
a  married  woman  shall  not  only  keep  as  separate  property 
the  wealth  which  she  had  before  marriage  or  inherited  after 
marriage,  but  that  she  shall  have  a  legal  right  to  one  half  of 
the  community  property  acquired  by  her  husband  or  herself 
after  marriage.  In  those  states  a  married  woman  has 
ceased,  legally,  to  be  a  subject  even  if  she  has  not  the  right 
to  vote.  In  doing  these  things  for  workingmen  and  for 
married  women,  society  is  trying  to  develop  itself  through 
the  protection  of  their  property  rights. 

129.  Safeguarding  of  Savings  and  Homesteads,  —  Prac- 
tically all  states  have  very  stringent  laws  for  regulating 
savings  hanks.  The  chief  object  of  these  laws  is  the  protec- 
tion of  the  savings  of  the  poorer  classes.  Since  the  investi- 
gation of  Ufe  insurance  frauds  and  scandals  under  the  su- 


^  We  now  recognize  labor  organization  and  collective  bargaining  as  two  of 
the  most  effective  and  desirable  methods  by  which  the  laborer  who  is  normally 
at  a  disadvantage  in  making  a  contract  with  his  employer  is  enabled  to  gain  a 
fair  share  in  return  for  his  toil.     See  Chapter  XV. 

Our  governments  have  really  done  quite  a  little  in  their  effort  to  protect 
the  wages  of  the  laborers.  In  most  states  there  are  laws  providing  for  mechanic 
liens.  That  is,  if  a  mechanic  works  on  a  piece  of  property,  his  wages  must  be 
paid  or  the  amount  of  his  wages  become  a  first  lien  on  the  property.  By  this 
means  provision  is  made  for  the  payment  oi  wages  before  the  payment  of  any 
other  of  the  cost  of  improvements  or  production. 


MODERN  SOCIAL  RIGHTS  141 

pervision  of  Charles  E.  Hughes  in  New  York  City  in  1905,  Regulations 
the  public  has  regulated  other  forms  of  savings  institutions,  ^^^  savings 
such  as  life  insurance  companies,  trust  companies,  build-  ance  com- 
ing and  loan  associations,  and  other  financial  organiza-  panics,  and 
tions,  which  grant  protection  or  insurance  to  small  wage  cLXr^n^' 
earners  in  return  for  small  payments  made  at  regular  in-  vestment. 
tervals.^ 

According  to  an  old  adage  a  man's  home  was  his  castle.  Homestead 
In  modern  society  it  is  far  more.  When  the  common  man  exemptiono 
began  to  make  his  own  laws,  he  first  abolished  imprisonment 
for  debt,  he  next  arranged  for  protection  of  his  home.  Al- 
most everywhere  in  America  provision  has  been  made  that, 
when  a  debtor  becomes  insolvent,  his  homestead  shall  not 
be  taken  in  payment  of  his  debts.  This  is  intended  to  safe- 
guard the  home  of  the  worker  rather  than  the  home  of  the 
wealthy  because  laws  in  almost  every  state  specify  the  maxi- 
mum size  of  a  homestead  subject  to  exemption. 

130.  Protection  of  Health  and  Life.  —  Modern  society  is  Preservation 
interpreting  liberally  the  famous  phrase  of  the  Declaration  ^  public 
of  Independence  that  men  are  entitled  to  "  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  We  have  already  noted  (§  8) 
and  shall  note  again  (§  255)  that  life  to-day  does  not  mean 
simply  exemption  from  punishment  by  death,  but  means  the 
direct  and  positive  protection  of  health  in  many  ways.  We 
believe  that  we  are  yet  in  the  beginning  of  a  great  movement 
for  the  better  safeguarding  of  public  and  individual  healthy 
protected  by  the  suppression  of  epidemics  and  numerous 
measures  for  sanitation,  as  well  as  by  better  building  laws, 
more  hours  of  leisure  for  children,  larger  playgrounds,  and 
more  attractive  parks. 2  In  recent  times  more  care  is  being 
taken  also  to  reduce  in  industry  the  dangers  to  life  -and 
health. 

1  Blue  sky  laws  regulating  land  and  loan  investment  companies  are  among 
the  later  means  of  protecting  small  investors.  Government  regulation  of 
stock  exchanges,  watering  of  stock  by  corporations,  and  other  forms  of  high 
finance  have  been  suggested  and  adopted  by  a  few  states. 

2  See  Chapter  XIV. 


142 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Safeguard- 
ing the  public 
as  well  as 
persons  ac- 
cused of 
crime. 


Protection 
of  social 
rather  than 
individual 
rights. 


Definition 
of,  and  rea- 
sons for,  the 
new  social 
constitution. 


The  individual  is  protected  in  court  by  our  bills  of  rights. 
In  order  to  protect  society  better  we  are  searching  for  other 
means  to  reduce  crime,  to  apprehend  offenders  more  easily 
so  that  fewer  of  the  guilty  will  escape,  to  shorten  the  long 
and  expensive  trials  of  notorious  criminals,  to  devise  saner 
methods  for  the  punishment  of  offenders.  By  these  means 
we  hope  to  lessen  the  number  of  crimes  and  to  protect  the 
persons  as  well  as  the  lives  of  those  who  might  be  injured 
by  criminals. 

131.  The  New  Social  Constitution.  —  In  recent  years  we 
have  modified  in  a  good  many  respects  our  interpretation 
of  constitutions  and  statutes  which  deal  with  the  subject  of 
liberty.  We  have  changed  to  the  point  of  view  that  society 
must  be  protected  first.  //  we  find  that  an  old  individual 
right  conflicts  with  a  new,  more  important  social  right,  we 
insist  that  the  latter  shall  be  protected,  not  the  former.  For 
example,  the  right  of  an  adult  freely  to  make  a  contract  is 
one  of  the  most  important  of  the  old  rights.  Yet  in  recent 
years  the  right  of  the  public  for  its  own  good  to  protect  the 
health  of  a  woman  worker  has  been  upheld  by  our  highest 
courts  even  though  the  eight,  nine,  and  ten  hour  laws  which 
thus  protect  these  workers  limit  their  right  to  make  con- 
tracts freely.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that  this  new  social 
constitution  has  been  built  up  largely  by  the  desire  of  the 
public  to  protect  the  health  of  its  citizens,  particularly  those 
who  are  workers  in  industries. 

It  might  be  said  that  the  new  social  constitution  consists 
of  those  constitutional  provisions,  statutes,  and  court  decisions 
whose  primary  object  is  the  protection  of  the  public  through 
the  safeguarding  of  the  health  and  the  lives  of  its  members  and 
the  promotion  of  their  best  general  welfare.  This  does  not 
suspend  the  bills  of  individual  rights ;  it  supplements  them 
by  protecting  the  individual  in  other  ways.  Since  modern 
industry  and  modern  society  are  more  complex  than  in 
former  times,  the  worker,  the  consumer,  and  the  producer 
have  many  new  relations  to  one  another.  Out  of  these  re- 
lations grow  many  new  social  rights  which  our  constitutions 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE 


143 


and  older  laws  do  not  recognize.  These  rights  are  pro- 
tected only  when  society  looks  after  itself  as  a  whole  rather 
than  after  its  individual  members.^ 


Administration  of  Justice 

132.  Our  System  of  Courts.  —  The  branch  of  ouf  gov- 
ernment to  which  is  intrusted  the  protection  of  individual 
rights  is  the  judicial  department.  It  is  to  the  courts  also 
quite  as  much  as  to  the  legislatures  that  we  look  for  the 
definition  and  protection  of  those  general  and  rather  indefi- 
nite rights  which  we  have  under  the  new  social  constitution. 
Whereas  in  many  foreign  countries  accused  persons  have 
been  tried  by  a  bench  of  judges  who  have  assumed  the 
guilt  of  the  prisoner  until  his  innocence  has  been  proved 
in  court,  in  America  not  only  is  every  opportunity  given 
the  accused  to  prove  his  innocence  (§  126),  but  his  innocence 
is  actually,  as  well  as  legally,  assumed  until  his  guilt  has 
been  proved. 

Almost  all  cases  involving  crime  are  tried  in  state  courts,^ 
since  criminal  law  is  a  part  of  the  state  sphere  of  action 
(§  199),  not  apart  of  the  national  sphere.^  Minor  cases  are 
tried  in  the  lowest  state  courts,  but  ordinary  offenses  are 

1  To  protect  these  new  social  rights  it  is  necessary  to  modify  at  least  three 
older  forms  of  law  or  of  governmental  activities.  The  three  which  are  espe- 
cially affected  by  the  modern  demands  are :  old  ideas  of  what  is  property,  old 
ideas  of  freedom  of  contract,  and  old  ideas  of  the  police  power  exercised  by  the 
states,  (i)  Under  the  older  constitutions  and  laws  property  of  corporations 
as  well  as  persons  was  safeguarded  in  every  possible  way.  We  are  now  taking 
the  view  that  property  is  a  social  right,  not  a  divine  right  (§  144).  It  has  there- 
fore social  obUgations  and  limitations,  especially  if  held  by  corporations  which 
enjoy  numerous  and  valuable  social  privileges  (§  146) .  Whereas  formerly  society 
was  not  allowed  to  protect  workers  because  the  protection  interfered  somewhat 
with  the  returns  or  dividends  of  property,  now  property  must  jdeld  to  the  needs 
of  society.  (2)  As  explained  above  (§  128)  the  right  to  make  contracts  freely 
is  held  to  be  subject  to  the  right  of  society  to  modify  that  right  either  for  its 
own  bene6t  or  because  of  the  need  of  the  worker.  (3)  The  changes  just  enumer- 
ated are  brought  about  partly  by  a  modification  of  the  police  power  of  the 
states. 

^  Most  cases  tried  in  our  courts  are,  of  course,  civil  cases. 

3  For  a  fuller  description  of  the  system  of  state  courts  see  §  198.  The  na- 
tional courts  are  described  in  another  place  (§§  237-241). 


Humane 
attitude  of 
our  courts 
toward  ac- 
cused per- 
sons. 


Opportuni- 
ties of  ac- 
cused per- 
sons to  de- 
fend them- 
selves. 


144 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Importance 
of  the  jury 
in  English 
and  Ameri- 
can history. 


Juries  and 
jurymen. 


Use  of  the 
jury  in  crim- 
inal cases. 


decided  in  county  courts  or  even  higher  tribunals.  If  a 
person  is  declared  innocent,  he  may  not  be  tried  again.  If 
no  decision  is  reached  as  to  his  guilt,  no  new  trial  ordinarily 
takes  place.  If  convicted,  a  new  trial  may  be  ordered  or  the 
verdict  may  be  reversed  by  appeal  to  the  next  highest  state 
court. 

133.  Use  of  the  Jury  System.  —  The  credit  for  main- 
taining so  satisfactorily  the  rights  of  individuals  before  the 
law  in  England  and  America  belongs,  to  a  very  great  extent, 
to  the  jury  system.  When  popular  participation  in  the 
work  of  the  government  was  much  less  common  than  at 
present,  when  judges  could  not  possibly  be  influenced  directly 
by  the  wishes  of  the  people,  and  when  the  principal  char- 
acteristic of  the  criminal  laws  was  their  harshness,  the 
right  of  jury  trial  was  almost  the  sole  source  of  justice  for 
the  common  people.  With  the  changed  conditions  of  the 
present,  it  is  no  longer  the  one  thing  indispensable  to  the 
oppressed,  but  its  extensive  use  bears  witness  that  its  value 
is  not  purely  historic. 

Although  there  are  two  kinds  of  investigating  juries, 
either  grand  juries  ^  or  coroner's  juries,  and  two  types  of 
trial  juries,  which  may  be  either  petit,  ordinary  juries,  or 
poHce  juries,^  we  are  speaking  of  the  petit  jury  when  we 
refer  to  the  jury  system.  Only  citizens  are  allowed  to  sit 
on  juries.  On  account  of  the  inconveniences  of  jury  service, 
oractically  all  professional  men  are  exempt  by  law  from  jury 
duty,  and,  on  account  of  the  annoyance  caused  by  being 
taken  from  their  business,  most  other  prominent  men  shirk 
jury  duty  as  far  as  possible. 

In  criminal  cases  the  defendant  may  not  only  demand  a 
jury  trial,  but,  even  in  trying  persons  for  misdemeanors,  or 

1  A  grand  jury  is  composed  of  from  twelve  to  twenty-three  men.  It  holds 
secret  sessions  either  for  the  purpose  of  investigating  the  causes  of  crimes  which 
have  been  committed,  bringing  indictments  against  those  whom  they  believe 
guilty,  or  in  order  to  investigate  the  conditions  of  departments  of  government 
and  their  expenditures  of  money. 

^  A  poUce  jury  usually  consists  of  six  men.  It  is  used  to  determine  the  guilt 
or  innocence  of  persons  accused  of  committing  misdemeanors,  i.e.  minor  offenses 
in  contradistinction  to  felonies,  or  serious  offenses. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE  145 

minor  crimes,  it  is  customary  to  have  juries,  while  in  cases 
where  the  crime  amounts  to  a  felony,  the  guilt  of  the  ac- 
cused is  always  determined  by  a  jury.^ 

134.  Advantages  of  Jury  Trial.  —  Juries  are  an  advan-  Advantage 
tage  to  the  accused  and  to  the  juryman.  To  the  former,  *°  accused. 
because  the  facts  connected  with  his  guilt  and  innocence 

are  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  common  sense  rather 
than  of  law.  The  jury  disregards  technicalities,  but  places 
the  emphasis  upon  the  right  or  wrong  involved.  It  takes 
into  account  the  circumstances,  the  motive,  and  the  con- 
sequences, so  that,  if  it  errs  at  all,  it  errs  on  the  side  of 
leniency. 

To  the  citizen,  the  jury  gives  opportunity  for  civic  edu-  Benefits  to 
cation.     It  brings  him  into  touch  with  the  work  of  admin-  Jurymen, 
istering  the  law,  and  makes  him  part  of  it ;  and,  in  so  doing, 
gives  him  clearer  conceptions  of  legal  rights  and  methods, 
and  fits  him  to  exercise  his  duties  as  a  citizen  with  greater 
knowledge  and  to  better  purpose. 

135.  The  Disadvantages  of  Jury  Trial.  —  The  main  Abuses  and 
question  is  whether  these  advantages  are  worth  what  they  "^e^^cts. 
cost,  whether  they  apply  to  all  forms  of  jury  trial,  and 
whether  they  are  not,  after  all,  but  partially  secured  on  ac- 
count of  the  numerous  exemptions  from  jury  duty.  Cer- 
tain it  is  that  the  exemption  of  professional  men,  and  the 
frequent  refusals  of  attorneys  to  accept  as  jurymen  those 

who  have  fornied  opinions  regarding  the  case  to  be  tried, 
have  given  rise  to  a  popular  belief  that  only  the  ignorant 
are  desired  as  jurors  —  a  belief  not  well  founded  in  most 
localities.  In  any  civil  case  involving  knotty  problems  of 
law,  the  ordinary  juror  is  almost  of  necessity  incompetent 
to  render  a  just  decision,  while  in  a  lawsuit  or  criminal 
case  where  a  strong  appeal  can  be  made  to  the  emotions  or 
to  prejudice,  the  jury  is  likely  to  be  unduly  influenced  in  its 

1  Although  jury  trial  may  be  waived  with  the  consent  of  both  parties  in  suits 
at  law,  and  although  certain  suits  which  deal  with  complicated  matters  are 
tried  without  juries  in  courts  of  equity,  nevertheless  the  decision  in  the  great 
majority  of  important  civil  suits,  still  rests  with  juries  composed  of  citizens, 
because  the  civil  suits  at  law  greatly  outnumber  cases  in  equity. 
L 


146 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


General  de- 
fects of  our 
judicial 
system. 


Delays  and 
heavy  ex- 
penses in 
criminal 
trials. 


Need  of 
fewer  techni- 
calities and 
better  justice 
for  the  poor 
man. 


verdict.  The  fact  that  a  lawyer  who  has  a  weak  case  almost 
invariably  asks  for  a  jury  trial  is  an  indication -that  the  jury 
errs  often  on  the  side  of  leniency.  In  short,  unrepresenta- 
tive of  the  communities  as  our  juries  must  be  under  present 
conditions,  they  often  defeat  the  ends  of  justice,  in  civil 
suits,  through  their  ignorance,  and,  in  criminal  cases,  through 
their  prejudice. 

136.  Failures  in  the  Administration  of  American  Justice. 
—  From  this  brief  study  of  our  courts  and  jury  system, 
we  can  see  that  there  are  numerous  dangers  and  defects 
in  the  methods  which  we  use  for  the  administration  of 
justice.  Although  the  general  principles  underlying  our 
judicial  system  are  the  most  perfect  in  the  world,  in  prac- 
tice our  courts  are  frequently  slow,  expensive,  exceedingly 
technical,  and  often  incapable  of  protecting  the  public 
properly. 

Centuries  ago  it  was  often  impossible  for  a  person  accused 
of  a  crime  to  secure  justice  because  he  could  not  be  brought 
to  trial.  This  was  remedied  in  part  by  means  of  the  writ 
of  habeas  corpus,  which  compelled  the  court  to  investigate 
the  charge  and  determine  whether  the  prisoner  should  be 
held  for  trial.  It  was  remedied  further  by  provisions  in 
constitutions  which  compelled  the  court  to  try  his  case  as 
soon  as  possible.  American  trials,  however,  are  often  unnec- 
essarily long  and  disagreeable,  and  have  been  known  to  cost 
the  public  several  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Appeals  are 
not  decided  quickly,  chiefly  because  our  appellate  courts 
have  too  much  to  do. 

If  we  simplify  our  laws  and  the  methods  used  in  the  trial 
of  cases,  if  we  get  rid  of  a  large  number  of  technicalities  by 
means  of  which  cases  are  delayed  and  justice  is  denied,  we 
shall  make  the  administration  of  justice  surer  as  well  as 
quicker. 1  Still  further  changes  in  our  judicial  procedure 
should  be  made  to  give  all  parties  true  equality  before  the 
law.     It  is  obvious  that  in  many  courts  there  is  one  law  for 

^  In  some  states  technicalities  are  no  longer  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  real 
administration  of  justice. 


ADMINISTRATION  OF  JUSTICE  147 

the  poor  man,  and  another  for  the  person  of  wealth  and 
influence.^  Undoubtedly  those  who  have  little  money  are 
often  treated  unjustly  because  they  cannot  afford  a  long  ex- 
pensive lawsuit.  This  will  be  remedied  in  part,  if  cases  are 
decided  more  promptly.  Furthermore,  if  the  courts  are 
taken  entirely  out  of  politics,  the  politicians  who  get  tem- 
porary control  of  our  government  and  the  big  business 
which  in  turn  may  control  the  politicians  will  not  dispense 
justice  in  their  own  way. 

137.  The  Necessity  for  an  Upright  Judiciary  in  a  Republic.  Character  of 
—  In  any  country  whose  political  institutions  are  popular,  ^^^^ 
there  is  need  of  an  able  and  upright  judiciary.  In  America 
where  our  governments  are  organized  and  our  laws  are  made 
under  written  constitutions,  the  judiciary  is  far  more  impor- 
tant than  in  any  other  country.  The  judges  have  the 
"  last  word  "  not  only  on  the  laws  which  they  are  asked  to 
interpret,  but  upon  the  constitutions  as  well.  That  is,  in 
deciding  a  case  brought  to  their  attention,  our  judges  must 
not  only  decide  the  case  itself  upon  its  merits  but  must  de- 
cide if  necessary  whether  the  law  is  in  accordance  with  the 
constitution,  and  it  must  therefore  interpret  or  declare  the 
intent  and  nature  of  the  constitution  itself. 

As  our  judges  must  not  only  explain  the  meaning  of  the  Need  of 
laws  but  of  the  constitutions,  if  they  are  corrupt  or  are  sub-  ^^owledge, 

.    '  .  "^  .  .        .         character, 

servient  to  any  particular  interest  or  set  of  persons,  justice  and  judicial 
will  be  "  sold,  delayed,  and  denied,"  and  the  fundamental  tempera- 
rights  of  freemen  will  be  refused  to  us.     An  ignorant  or  prej-  ^^^  ' 
udiced  judge  is  but  Httle  less  dangerous  to  the  pubhc  welfare 
and  to  individual  security  than  a  corrupt  justice,  and  every 
possible  precaution  must  be  taken  to  secure  men  of  ability 
and  judicial  temperament  as  well  as  of  integrity.     When,  as 
is  the  case  in  most  of  the  states,  the  salaries  paid  the  highest 
judges  are  but  a  tithe  of  the  income  of  prominent  lawyers, 
the  honor  of  holding  the  position  must  be  made  the  chief 

1  The  public  will  be  better  protected  if  the  public,  rather  than  the  interested 
parties,  furnish  all  the  technical  and  expert  testimony,  for  any  wealthy  client 
can  piurchase  such  testimony  if  he  pays  a  high  enough  price. 


148 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


attraction  to  jurists  of  ability.  If  we  elect  as  judges  men  of 
inferior  standing,  men  whose  business  is  politics  rather  than 
law,  or  men  who  seek  places  on  the  bench  through  dishon- 
orable means  and  who  use  them  for  personal  or  partisan  ends, 
we  must  expect  a  judiciary  that  does  not  command  respect, 
and  which,  in  the  long  run,  will  defeat  the  popular  will  and 
bring  our  free  institutions  into  disrepute. 


Why  the 
obeying  of 
laws  by  the 
public  is 
more  impor- 
tant than  en- 
forcement by 
'he  police. 


Importance 
of  adequate 
police  pro- 
tection in 
cities. 


Punishment  of  Offenders 

138.  The  Enforcement  of  Law.  —  The  administration  of 
justice  is  connected  closely  with  that  most  fundamental  of 
governmental  functions  —  the  preservation  of  order.  Yet 
this  is  a  task  which  rests  upon  the  general  public  rather  than 
upon  the  peace  officers  who  enforce  the  laws.  It  is  quite 
essential  that  our  laws  should  define  clearly  crimes  which 
may  be  committed  by  individuals  against  society;  it  is 
necessary  that  suitable,  yet  severe,  penalties  be  designated 
for  each  offense ;  it  is  indispensable  that  ofenders  should  be 
arrested  and  convicted  for  their  crimes;  yet  these  laws  and 
methods  will  fail  without  the  public  sentiment  which  will 
discourage  and  condemn  law  breaking,  which  will  support 
our  criminal  laws  and  their  enforcement  without  question  or 
hesitation.  The  influence  of  public  opinion  on  this  subject 
can  be  seen  if  we  compare  the  attitude  of  different  com- 
munities toward  any  law.  A  law  to  which  the  people  of 
any  district  or  city  object  is  disregarded  with  impunity, 
although  that  community  may  be  noted  in  general  as 
law-abiding. 

It  is  usually  a  matter  of  pride  that  laws  should  be  enforced 
and  order  kept  within  a  locality,  since  the  states  do  not 
maintain  a  state  police  but  leave  the  protection  of  life  and 
property  to  local  officers.  In  congested  districts,  such  as 
cities,  it  is  easier  for  crimes  and  criminals  to  escape  detection. 
In  addition  city  police  officers  must  enforce  a  multitude  of 
ordinances,  such  as  the  removal  of  certain  obstructions,  the 
abatement  of  nuisances,   the  enforcement  of  excise  laws, 


» 


PUNISHMENT  OF   CRIMINALS  149 

and  the  regulation  of  traffic.  In  every  city,  therefore,  a 
large  number  of  policemen  is  necessary,  increased  geometri- 
cally as  the  population  increases  arithmetically.^ 

139.  Punishment  of  Adult  Criminals.  —  In  ancient  and  Punishment 
medieval  times  the  treatment  of  the  criminal  was  exceedingly  °^  ^"°^^  *° 
barbarous,  death  by  ordinary  means  being  considered  too 
mild  a  method  of  punishment.^  As  the  world  began  to 
realize  that  severe  and  arbitrary  methods  increased  rather 
than  diminished  crime,  greater  attention  was  paid  to  reform- 
ing the  criminal,  while  schools  for  the  care  of  neglected 
children  and  youthful  offenders  sprang  up  on  every  side. 

1  City  police  forces  are  usually  organized  on  a  semi-military  basis  under  a 
chief  of  police,  with  captains  and  lieutenants  in  the  different  police  precincts  into 
which  the  larger  cities  are  divided.  A  police  board  usually  makes  rules  for  the 
department,  and  has  at  least  nominal  power  of  appointment,  often  requiring 
physical  and  other  tests  of  the  patrolmen.  Each  county  has  a  sheriff  who  is 
aided  by  several  deputies.  There  are  usually  in  addition  township  constables, 
who  serve  warrants  and  arrest  offenders.  In  rural  communities  these  duties 
are  not  often  arduous,  unless  public  sentiment  is  on  the  side  of  the  law  breakers. 

In  times  of  special  danger  the  ordinary  police  is  supplemented  by  posses  of 
citizens  summoned  by  the  county  sheriffs  to  help  them  put  down  rioting  or  in- 
surrection. If  disorder  is  widespread,  the  state  militia  may  be  called  out  by 
the  state  governor,  and  the  regular  troops  may  even  be  sent  to  the  scene  of 
disorder  by  the  President,  if  the  violence  interferes  with  the  mails  or  interstate 
commerce.  If  these  means  fail  and  notorious  offenders  are  acquitted  in  the 
courts,  there  is  danger  that  ordinary  lawlessness  or  even  lynching  may  result. 

2  Crucifixion  was  a  common  means  of  executing  a  Roman  criminal.  Different 
forms  of  torture  such  as  breaking  a  man  on  the  wheel,  and  almost  as  cruel  methods 
of  punishing  minor  offenders,  were  in  common  use  on  the  continent  of  Europe 
until  a  little  more  than  a  century  ago.  In  England  torture  was  never  used 
commonly,  but,  in  the  England  of  the  eighteenth  century,  more  than  two  hundred 
offenses,  many  of  them  of  a  minor  nature,  were  punishable  by  death.  In  colonial 
times  imprisonment  was  almost  unknown,  death  being  the  penalty  for  the  most 
serious  offenses,  and  some  species  of  public  torture,  such  as  the  stocks  or  the 
whipping  post,  being  used  for  minor  crimes.  During  the  early  national  period 
there  were  prisons  for  the  incarceration  of  criminals ;  but  these  were  always  of 
the  worst  description,  the  prisoners  being  herded  together  irrespective  of  age, 
offense,  and  other  conditions,  while  often  the  prisons  were  nothing  but  cellars 
or  mines.  The  gradual  introduction  of  state  prisons  and  more  enlightened 
pubUc  interest  did  away  with  the  worst  of  these  evils. 

Even  as  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  in  some  states  no 
prisons,  state  or  local,  were  provided  for  the  permanent  retention  of  law  break- 
ers, and  the  labor  of  the  convicts  was  sold  to  contractors  who  took  entire  charge 
of  them,  often  giving  them  the  poorest  food  and  treating  them  with  barbarity. 
The  usual  results  were  all  that  even  a  system  of  punishment  should  not  include, 
and  the  only  attempted  justification  of  the  disgraceful  system  was  the  annual 
sum  paid  for  the  services  of  the  convicts. 


ISO 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


State  prisons 
to-day. 


Local  penal 
institutions. 


Use  of 

shorter  terms 
of  imprison- 
ment and 
better  prison 
teaching. 


To-day  state  prisons  are  reserved  for  the  worst  classes  of 
criminals  sentenced  by  the  courts,  the  persons  convicted  of 
minor  offenses  being  confined  in  penitentiaries  or  in  local 
jails.  The  methods  used  in  the  prisons  vary  greatly,  but  the 
discipline  is  of  necessity  fairly  rigid.  Ordinarily  employment 
is  provided,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the  prisoners 
occupied,  but  partially  to  help  pay  the  expenses  of  the 
prisons.  A  premium  is  placed  upon  good  behavior  by  re- 
ducing the  length  of  the  sentences  from  ten  to  thirty  per 
cent  for  satisfactory  conduct. 

When  a  person  is  sentenced  for  a  short  time,  he  is  usually 
sent  to  a  county  penitentiary,  of  which  there  are  a  great 
number.  If  awaiting  trial,  or  held  as  witness  without  bail, 
he  is  confined  in  the  penitentiary  or  in  some  local  jail.  No 
work  is  provided  in  most  instances  except  possibly  on  a 
chain  gang,  neither  is  there  any  classification  of  prisoners 
according  to  age  or  crime.  As  all  are  thrown  together,  and 
idleness  prevails,  local  prisons  cannot  be  said  to  be  effective 
in  the  prevention  of  crime. 

140.  Prison  Reform.  —  Since  John  Howard  and  Elizabeth 
Fry,  very  little  more  than  a  century  ago,  began  their 
notable  work  for  the  reform  of  England's  prisons,  we  have 
been  trying  to  work  out  more  sensible  methods  of  treating 
crime.  As  the  modern  aim  is  to  protect  society  and  to  re- 
form the  criminal,  we  have  abandoned  torture  in  practically 
all  cases,  and  the  death  penalty  except  for  the  most  serious 
offenders.  In  fact,  in  eight  states  capital  punishment  has  been 
abolished.  Many  have  questioned  whether  the  imprison- 
ment of  an  offender  with  similar  criminals  for  a  long  period 
of  years  is  the  best  means  by  which  to  reform  him.  In  some 
states  we  use  the  indeterminate  sentence,  so  that  a  prisoner  is 
released  on  parole  after  serving  a  minimum  sentence.  We 
have  also  introduced  into  our  prisons  more  training  which 
teaches  the  prisoner  a  trade,  we  are  treating  him  more  as  a 
man  than  as  an  abnormal  human  being,  and  we  are  trying 
to  arouse  in  him  ambition  to  become  a  useful  citizen. 

In   a  few  progressive   communities   prison  farms   have 


PUNISHMENT  OF  CRIMINALS 


151 


been  started,  the  prisoners  being  allowed  to  do  useful  work 
in  the  fields  or  on  roads  or  in  other  employments.^  The 
problem  is  many-sided ;  it  requires  much  more  thought  and 
public  attention  than  has  yet  been  given  to  it.  No  prison 
system  will  be  really  satisfactory,  however,  unless  it  makes 
some  satisfactory  provision  for  the  man  who  is  discharged 


Need  of  more 
care  and  less 
punishment. 


Entertaining  the  Inmates  of  Sing  Sing  Prison. 


from  prison  walls,  so  that  he  shall  be  able  to  secure  work 
and  really  become  a  useful  member  of  society. 

141.   Reform  Schools.  —  In  a  few  states  separate  institu-   Prisons  for 
tions  are  provided  for  adult  first  offenders.     Possibly  it  is  a   adult  first 
misnomer  to  call  any  prison  for  mature  men  a  reform  school. 
However,  the  methods  used  in  these  institutions  are  among 
the  best  yet  tried  in  America,  since  a  first  offender  may  really 
be  reformed,  whereas  a  hardened  convict  is  usually  hopeless. 

In  a  great  many  states  there  are  similar  reform  schools 

1  In  some  prisons  also  the  prisoners  print  papers,  organize  ball  teams,  have 
bands  which  give  concerts,  and  have  mutual  welfare  organizations  which  work 
on  problems  of  the  whole  prison  and  of  individual  members. 


152 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Old  style  and  for  boys  and  girls.  Many  a  youth  who  is  guilty  of  stealing 
newer  reform  qj.  some  Other  misdemeanor  is  placed  in  such  an  institution 
methods.  until  a  certain  age  is  reached.  Incorrigible  children  fre- 
quently are  sent  by  their  parents  to  such  a  school.  In 
other  cities  the  reform  school  is  used  only  for  special  offen- 
ders, segregated  according  to  their  degree  of  delinquency  or 
according  to  their  physical  or  mental  disabilities.  By 
means  of  strict  discipline,  by  training  the  boys  and  the  girls 
to  use  to  advantage  both  their  minds  and  their  hands,  and 
by  teaching  them  self-control  and  the  rights  of  others,  an 


The  Reformatory,  Anamosa,  Iowa. 


Conditions 
affecting  the 
juvenile 
offender. 


earnest  and  fairly  successful  attempt  is  made  by  these  schools 
to  change  them  into  useful  citizens.  Often  their  later  careers 
are  watched  to  prevent  the  graduates  from  reentering  a 
career  of  crime,  for  the  difficulties  encountered  by  a  person 
who  has  served  a  sentence  in  a  prison  or  reform  school  are 
very  great,  even  when  he  desires  to  follow  the  right  path. 
142.  Juvenile  Courts.  —  Society's  change  of  attitude 
towards  criminals  is  nowhere  so  conspicuous  as  in  its  treat- 
ment of  youthful  citizens  who  break  the  laws.  In  the  adult 
offender,  criminal  intent  may  possibly  exist,  but  in  a  young 


•  PUNISHMENT  OF  CRIMINALS  1 53 

boy  or  girl,  no  lawlessness  should  be  charged  to  a  really 
criminal  nature.  An  especial  effort  is  made  in  the  case  of 
children  to  cure  any  physical  defects  which  may  be  thought 
to  cause  lawlessness.  Since  most  juvenile  offenders  come 
from  homes  in  which  parental  discipline  is  lax,  or  in  which 
there  is  but  one  parent,  especial  attention  is  given  to  the 
home  life.  In  fact,  in  some  courts  punishment  for  the  offenses 
committed  by  children  against  law  and  order  is  meted  upon 
the  parents  rather  than  upon  the  children. 

In  most  of  our  large  cities  youthful  offenders  are  now  tried  The  juvenile 
in  special  courts.  A  special  judge  takes  charge  of  all  cases  offender  m 
involving  boys  and  girls.  Instead  of  treating  the  child  as 
a  criminal,  —  having  a  charge  brought  against  him  and 
his  case  tried  by  a  jury,  —  the  child  with  his  accuser  and 
sponsors  meets  the  judge  in  his  chamber.  No  outsiders 
know  about  the  offense  that  has  been  committed,  and  the 
child,  unembarrassed  by  the  presence  of  policemen,  spectators, 
or  newspaper  reporters,  has  an  opportunity  for  a  heart  to 
heart  talk  with  the  judge. 

Ordinarily  the  child,  if  guilty,  is  placed  upon  probation  Use  of  pro- 
and  is  obliged  to  report  at  regular  intervals  to  the  court,  ^^^^o"- 
If  he  is  still  of  school  age,  he  is  kept  in  school ;  otherwise 
employment  is  found  for  him  and  he  is  visited  by  the  pro- 
bation officers  and  friends.  If  he  has  no  decent  home  of  his 
own,  a  home  may  be  found  for  him.  As  far  as  possible  he 
is  placed  upon  his  own  honor,  some  judges  making  a  practice 
of  sending  the  boy  without  guards  to  report  at  a  rather  dis- 
tant reform  school.  It  is  interesting  to  notice  that,  where 
the  juvenile  court  judge  or  probation  officers  use  good 
judgment,  they  are  rarely  disappointed  by  the  boys  and 
girls. 

Certainly  our  juvenile  court  judges  and  their  probation  Success  of 
assistants  have  a  right  to  be  proud  of  the  work  of  reforma-  °"^  juvenile 
tion  which  has  been  accomplished  among  youthful  offenders  probation, 
some  of  whom  would,  under  old,  unwise  methods,  have  be- 
come hardened  criminals.     The  juvenile  courts  have  pointed 
the  way  toward  reform  methods  which  will  not  only  protect 


154  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

the  public  but  help  to  solve  this  tremendously  important 
problem  of  criminal  reform. 

General  References 

Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State,  378-381,  456-470. 
Beard,  American  Citizenship,  34-76. 

Burgess,  Political  Science  and  Comparative  Constitutional  Law,  I,  184- 
252. 

Kaye,  Readings  in  Civil  Government,  94-128. 

Stimson,  Poptdar  Law-Making,  124-157,  205-338. 

Baldwin,  The  American  Judiciary. 

Train,  The  Prisoner  at  the  Bar. 

Wright,  Practical  Sociology,  350-389. 

Boies,  The  Science  of  Penology. 

Henderson  (ed.).  Penal  and  Reformatory  Institutions. 

Hart  (ed.).  Preventive  Treatment  of  Neglected  Children. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  Mar.,  1914. 

Wines,  et  al..  Prison  Reform  and  the  Criminal  Law. 

Topics 

Property  Rights  in  the  United  States  :  Beard,  American  Citizen- 
ship, 54-63;  Stimson,  Popular  Law-Making,  124-157;  Ely,  Property 
and  Contract,  I,  51-69,  165-190,  484-510. 

The  Law's  Delays  and  Defects  :  Train,  The  Prisoner  at  the  Bar, 
102-128;  Taft,  W.  H.,  in  North  American  Review,  187  (1908),  851-861; 
Roosevelt,  T.,  in  Outlook,  96  (1901),  149-153;  Scoville,  S.,  Jr.,  mOutlook, 
92  (1909),  359-366;  White,  W.  A.,  in  American  Magazine,  69  (1910), 
499-505;  Brewer,  C.  B.,  in  McClure's  Magazine,  34  (1910),  677-686; 
Untermyer,  S.,  in  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  36  (1910),  145- 
160;    Taft,  Present-Day  Problems,  333-356. 

Juvenile  Courts  :  Boies,  Science  of  Penology,  245-263 ;  The  Sur- 
vey, Feb.,  1910;  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  36  (1910),  49-84; 
Mangold,  Child  Problems,  221-290;  Flexner  and  Baldwin,  Juvenile 
Courts  and  Probation,  3-172 ;  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  52  (1914), 
140-158;  Eliot,  The  Juvenile  Court  and  the  Community,  7-69,  173-185; 
Hart  (ed.).  Preventive  Treatment  of  Neglected  Children,  207-360. 

Studies 

1.  Freedom  of  speech  and  thought.  Cleveland,  Organized  Democ- 
racy, 82-90. 

2.  Rights  to  bear  arms  and  to  freedom  from  violence.  Stimson, 
Popular  Law-Making,  275-283. 


THE  NEW  CIVICS  1 55 

3.  Rights  of  a  person  accused  of  crime.  Cooley,  Principles  of  Con- 
stitutional Law,  301-310. 

4.  Exemption  of  homesteads.  Cleveland,  Growth  of  Democracy  in 
America,  380-385. 

5.  Rights  of  negroes.     Stimson,  Popular  Law-Making,  308-316. 

6.  Some  features  of  the  new  social  constitution.  Young,  The  New 
American  Government,  496-515. 

7.  Liberty  of  employees  and  the  property  rights  of  employers.  Ely, 
Property  and  Contract,  II,  651-677. 

8.  The  grand  jury.    Train,  The  Prisoner  at  the  Bar,  81-101. 

9.  Advantages  of  jury  trial.    Train,  The  Prisoner  at  the  Bar,  158- 

177- 

10.  Shameful  miscarriage  of  justice.     Fuller,  H.  B.,  in  World's  Work, 
13  (1906),  8221-8226. 

11.  Prison  labor.     Carlton,  History  and  Problems  of  Organized  Labor, 
424-430. 

12.  Work  of  an  enlightened  woman  prison  commissioner.     Barnard, 
K.,  in  Good  Housekeeping,  55  (191 2),  600-606. 

13.  New  methods  in  prison  reform.    Osborne,  T.  M.,  in  Review  of 
Reviews,  52  (1915),  449-456. 

14.  Reform  school  methods.    Henderson  (ed.).  Penal  and  Reforma- 
tory Institutions,  1 21-128. 

15.  What  is  being  done  for  the  incorrigible  boy.     Hillis,  C.  D.,  in 
World's  Work,  27  (1914),  642-649. 

Questions 

1.  Show  how  the  protection  of  individual  rights  acnd  the  promotion 
of  pubUc  welfare  are  bound  together.  In  what  respects  is  civil  liberty 
different  from  political  liberty? 

2.  Give  reasons  for  having  bills  of  rights  in  our  constitutions.  Are 
those  bills  still  demanded  by  conditions  ?  Explain  why  we  need  at  least 
four  kinds  of  civil  liberty,  and  show  how  our  bills  of  rights  protect  each 
form  of  liberty. 

3 .  From  what  dangers  do  our  bills  of  rights  fail  to  protect  us  ?  Name 
four  modem  social  rights ;  show  what  dangers  each  averts,  why  each  is 
more  necessary  now  than  it  was  in  the  last  century,  and  why  we  are 
better  protected  by  them  than  by  the  older  bills  of  rights. 

4.  Explain  the  nature  of  the  new  social  constitution,  and  show  its 
importance. 

5.  How  many  grades  of  courts  are  there  in  this  state?  Give  the 
name  of  each. 

6.  How  many  judges  constitute  the  highest  court?  How  are  tJiey 
selected?  What  is  their  term  of  ofl&ce?  Where  are  the  sessions  of  the 
highest  court  held? 


156  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

7.  Answer  the  same  questions  for  the  lower  courts. 

8.  How  are  jurymen  selected  in  this  locality  ?     Do  they  serve  with- 
out pay?     Who  are  exempt  from  jury  duty? 

9.  What  is  the  size  of  the  police  force  of  this  city?    What  are  the 
duties  of  the  police  ofl&cers,  according  to  the  city  ordinance  ? 

10.  What  is  the  purpose  of  laws  defining  crime;  of  police  depart- 
ments ;  of  courts ;  and  of  prisons  ?  To  what  extent  does  each  of  these 
accomplish  the  work  it  is  supposed  to  do ;  in  other  words,  what  are  the 
failures  in  each  stage  of  the  administration  of  justice  ?  Can  you  suggest 
remedies  for  any  of  these  failures? 

11.  Name  the  principal  prisons  of  this  state;  the  reformatories. 
Are  our  institutions  using  modern  methods? 

12.  Is  there  a  juvenile  court  in  this  county?  To  what  extent  do 
our  juvenile  courts  succeed  in  keeping  boys  and  girls  from  becoming 
criminals  ?  Why  is  an  ounce  of  prevention  for  juvenile  offenders  worth 
to  society  several  pounds  of  cure  ? 


CHAPTER  IX 


PUBLIC   FINANCE 


General  Considerations 


143.   The   Financial   Needs   of   Our   Government.  —  All 

systems  of  government,  even  in  times  of  peace,  require  an  im- 
mense revenue.  In  time  of  war  expenses  are  necessarily 
increased  very  greatly,  particularly  for  the  national  govern- 
ment. The  national  revenues  in  time  of  peace  are  secured 
almost  entirely  through  taxes.  The  income  necessary  for 
conducting  a  war  is  obtained,  on  the  contrary,  chiefly  through 


State,  $382,551,199 

County,  $385,181,760 

National  Government,  $952,600,857 

City  Government,   $1,246,659,009 

Expenditures  by  Governments  i  (1913). 

loans  or  other  forms  of  indebtedness.    These  must  be  paid 
by  taxation  in  the  future. 

In  time  of  peace  more  than  one  half  of  the  revenues  of  the 
national  government  are  expended  for  the  army  and  navy, 
pensions,  and  interest  on  the  national  debt ;  in  other  words, 
the  expenditures  are  chiefly  for  past  wars  or  future  possible 
wars.     This  proportion   of   course  is  greatly  increased  in 

1  Towns  and  minor  districts  (including  cities  of  less  than  2500  inhabitants) 
are  not  included  in  tables  on  this  page  and  on  pages  158  and  168. 

157 


Ordinary  in- 
come and 
war  rev- 
enues. 


"War"  ex- 
penses of  the 
national  gov- 
ernment. 


158 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


time  of  war.     It  is  therefore  necessary  that  the  national  tax 

system  be  capable  of  considerable  expansion  during  crises, 

even  though  most  of  the  revenue  required  for  war  expenses 

may  be  obtarned  through  loans. 

Financial  The  Ordinary  expenses  of  state  and  local  government  are 

need  of  local  considerably  heavier  than  those  of  the  national  government 

m^^'s!"  i"^  ^^^  ^f  peace.     Schools  cannot  be  maintained  without 

money  for  buildings  as  well  as  the  payment  of  the  salarie.s 


General  Outlay  $511,923,125 

Education  $424,416,597 

General  Gov't.,  $211,772,053 

Roads  and  Parks, 
$183,399,264 

Fire  and  Police. 
$170,967,461 

Interest, 
$162,848,004 

Charities  &  Corrections  j 
$158,297,655.             | 

Health, 
$69,626,193 

Main  Expenditures  (1913),  State  and  Local  Governments. 


of  teachers.  The  salaries  of  public  officials  is  a  considerable 
item,  since  more  than  a  half  milHon  people  are  engaged  in  the 
administration  of  state  or  local  affairs  for  the  public.  The 
great  expense  of  a  police  force,  police  courts,  and  buildings 
for  the  imprisonment  of  criminals  shows  that  a  high  price 
must  be  paid  for  the  preservation  of  order,  especially  in 
cities.  Public  charities  of  different  types  and  kinds  neces- 
sarily require  a  considerable  outlay,  as  do  the  preservation 
of  health  and  the  protection  of  buildings  from  fire. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  1 59 

Public  improvements  call  for  large  expenditures.     These  Public  im- 
may  be  paid  by  the  general  pubhc  of  the  locality  for  which  provements, 
the  improvement  is  made,  if  the  improvement  is  general ;  special  as- 
for  example,  a  bridge,  a  trunk  sewer,  or  a  city  park.     Heavy  sessmente. 
and  unusual  expenditures  of  this  kind  are  usually  financed 
by  the  sale  of  bonds,  the  cost  of  more  specifically  local  im- 
provements being  paid  by  special  assessments.     Before  we 
consider  the  character  of  different  taxes  in  the  United  States, 
let  us  notice  the  relation  of  the  public  toward  property 
and  the  characteristics  which  a  good  system  of  taxation  must 
possess. 

144.   Private  Property  as  a  Social  Institution.  —  As  we  Existence  of 
noticed  above  (§  70),  one  of  the  most  important  economic  private  prop- 
characteristics  of  society  to-day  is  the  institution  of  private  ^ge^. 
property.     Although   clothing,   weapons,    tools,    and   other 
"  personal  effects  "  of  civilized  man  have  always  been  pri- 
vately  owned,    during   the    Middle   Ages    other   forms   of 
property  such  as  land  were  not  subject  to  private  owner- 
ship in  the  same  way  as  they  are  to-day. 

Without  private-  ownership  of  property,  there  would  be  Social  ad- 
liUle  inducement  to  work  except  for  the  satisfaction  of  im-  vantages  of 
mediate  needs.     Few  people  would  economize  if  their  savings  ^^^y  ^  ^^^"^ 
were  placed  in  a  common  fund  to  which  others  contributed 
little  or  nothing.     We  want  something  of  our  own  laid  away 
for  a  **  rainy  day."     We  desire  property  not  only  for  its 
own  direct  use  but  for  the  income  which  savings  will  produce. 
Since  the  time  may  come  when  the  chief  wage  earner  of  a 
family  will  be  old,  disabled,  or  dead,  he  wishes  to  provide  for 
those  dependent  on  him. 

Saving  must  therefore  be  encouraged  by  society  not  only  Social  value 
because  our  vast  modern  system  of  production  would  be  of  capital 
impossible  without  a  large  amount  of  capital,  but  because  ^nnsof 
people  will  work  harder  if  they  are  allowed  to  accumulate  savings, 
property.     The  institution  of  private  property  exists,  there- 
fore, not  as  a  natural  right  but  because  of  its  usefulness  to 
society.    Through  it  society  promotes  the  individual  welfare 
of  its  members  and  the  general  welfare  of  society. 


i6o 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Protection  of 
private  prop- 
erty by  con- 
stitutions. 


Forms  of 
wealth  which 
should  repay 
the  pubUc 
in  taxes. 


145.   Protection    and    Taxation    of    Private    Property.  — 

Naturally  our  constitutions  protect  an  institution  which  is 
so  necessary  socially  and  so  fully  established  as  is  private 
property.  In  the  Fifth  Amendment  of  the  national  constitu- 
tion, adopted  in  1791,  specific  provision  is  made  that  no 
person  shall  "  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  with- 
out due  process  of  law,  nor  shall  private  property  be  taken 
for  public  use,  without  just  compensation."  The  Fourteenth 
Amendment,  adopted  in  1868,  went  farther  when  it  declared 
that  no  "  state  shall  deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or 
property,  without  due  process  of  law."  ^ 

The  accumulation  of  wealth  is  aided  by  our  economic  organ- 
ization (§§  68-75)  ^^^  t)y  many  special  laws  or  govern- 
mental favors.  It  is  only  right  that  the  public  should  keep 
a  part  of  that  wealth  which  it  creates  or  which  it  is  possible 
for  individuals  to  create  because  society  is  well  organized. 
Certainly  a  heavy  tax  or  large  rentals  should  be  paid  to  the 
government  by  the  owners  of  mines,  waterfalls,  and  timber 
lands  J  which  are  in  one  sense  almost  pubhc  property.  The 
value  of  most  city  lots  is  constantly  increasing  because  there 
is  a  social  demand  for  them,  and  especially  for  those  which 
are  centrally  located.  Improvements  made  by  one  owner 
increase  the  value  of  neighboring  lots,  without  a  cent  of 
expenditure  by  the  latter.  Those  who  benefit  by  this  social 
rise  of  land  values,  called  the  "  unearned  increment,^'  should 
give  back  to  the  public  some  share  of  that  increase  in  value 
which  they  did  nothing  to  earn.  Public  utility  corporationSy 
owning  valuable  franchises,  which  are  property,  should  pay 
liberally  for  property  which  owes  its  sole  value  to  the  public. 
Business  men  in  favored  interests,  those  in  control  of  pro- 
tected industries,  in  short,  all  who  own  any  land,  other 
property,  or  business  whose  increase  of  value  or  unusual 
income  is  due  to  public  causes,  can  afford  to  pay  and  should 
be  made  to  pay  taxes  before  anyone  is  asked  to  contribute 
out  of  his  personal  earnings. 

1  Under  our  constitutions  and  laws  property  was  protected  for  nearly  a  half 
century  after  the  Civil  War  by  government,  often  at  the  expense  of  the  life  and 
health  of  the  laborers. 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  l6l 

146.   Taking  Private  Property  for  Public  Use.  —  Private  Use  of  thf 
property  may  be  taken  for  public  use  in  many  ways.     If  a  ^^^^  °^ 
new  street  must  be  established  or  a  railway  constructed,  main  and 
one  owner  of  land  which  is  necessary  for  the  completion  of  special  as- 
the  thoroughfare  or  railway  is  not  allowed  to  block  the  whole  ^^^^^^^  ' 
project  by  refusing  to  sell  his  land.     If  an  owner  is  willing 
to  sell  but  places  an  exorbitant  price  on  his  property,  the 
pubHc  does  not  give  what  he  asks,  but  the  courts  appoint 
experts  who  decide  what  amount  should  be  paid  for  the  land, 
or  what  sum  should  be  offered  as  damages  for  injury  to  other 
property  which   is  taken.     This   property  is   taken  under 
the  legal  right  of  eminent  domain.     When  a  street  is  to  be 
improved,  the  government  again  steps  in  and  makes  a  special 
assessment  on  all  property  which  is  supposed  to  be  benefited 
by  the  improvement. 

In  the  case  of  taxation  private  property  is  taken  for  public  why  prop- 
purposes  without  the  direct  consent  of  the  owners  of  that  erty  should 
property.     The  government  insists  that  we  shall  pay  the  source  of 
taxes  needed  by  the  public  even  if  the  work  done  by  the  taxation, 
governments  injures  us  as  much  as  it  benefits  us  personally. 
A  tax  we  find  to  be  a  forced  contribution  by  members  of  a 
society  to  its  support.     The  society  may  be  a  nation  or  a 
state    (commonwealth) ;    accordingly   we  have   a  national 
system  of  taxation  and  a  state  system.     However,  in  prac- 
tice, if  not  in  law,  the  latter  may  frequently  be  separated 
into  two,  the  state  and  the  local.     It  is  evident  at  once  that 
the  revenue  for  the  support  of  government  must  come  from 
those  who  have  that  with  which  to  pay,  not  from  those 
who  have  not.     If  it  does  not  come  from  "  property,"  it 
must   come   chiefly   from    "  income."  ^     But,    as   property 
usually  yields  an  income  either  in  the  form  of  actual  satis- 

^  If  we  taxed  income  chiefly,  we  should  be  obliged  to  make  some  distinction 
between  (i)  incomes  which  are  due  solely  to  personal  effort  and  sacrifice,  as  in 
the  wages  of  labor,  (2)  incomes  which  are  the  result  of  combined  personal  efforts 
and  capital  {i.e.  property),  (3)  those  which  come  from  ordinary  property,  (4) 
those  which  come  from  property  or  business  especially  protected  or  aided  by 
government,  and  (s)  incomes  or  increases  in  property  values  which  are  created 
chiefly  by  society,  as  in  the  case  of  the  "unearned  increment"  of  land  in  busi- 
ness sections  of  cities. 


l62 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Principles  of 
good  taxa- 
tion. 


Administra- 
tive details 
desirable  in 
taxes. 


faction,  as  the  use  of  one's  home  or  hbrary,  or  in  the  actual 
creation  of  wealth,  as  the  crops  on  a  farm,  or  the  goods  made 
in  a  factory,  income  is  only  one  side  of  property  in  many 
cases. 

147.  Characteristics  of  a  Good  Tax.  —  (i)  No  tax  is  a 
good  tax  unless  it  is  just.  No  tax  is  just  if  it  affects  personal 
income  as  heavily  as  income  from  property,  or  ordinary 
property  as  much  as  privileged  property.  It  is  impossible 
for  any  one  tax  to  be  fair  to  all  classes  of  people ;  but  it  is 
possible  for  any  tax  system^  that  is,  a  group  of  taxes  levied  by 
any  one  government,  to  be  fair.^  (2)  To  say  that  a  tax 
should  be  just  is  to  indicate  that  it  should  be  according  to  a 
citizen's  ability  to  pay.  Ability  should  be  measured  by  the 
source  of  one's  income  quite  as  much  as  by  its  amount.  As 
far  as  possible  it  certainly  should  exempt  from  taxation  any 
laborer  or  family  living  on  a  small  income. 

(3)  The  times  and  methods  of  assessment  and  collection 
should  not  be  arbitrary,  but  fixed  and  known  to  all.  (4) 
The  tax  should  be  as  little  felt  as  possible.  All  of  the  burden 
should  not  be  placed  upon  a  single  class,  as  in  some  French 
taxes  just  before  the  great  French  Revolution.  An  old  but 
defective  tax  is  often  less  felt  than  a  new,  though  better, 
tax.  Changes  should,  in  consequence,  take  place  only 
when  the  good  to  be  derived  clearly  overbalances  the  diffi- 
culty encountered  by  the  people  in  adjusting  themselves  to 
the  change.  (5)  It  should  be  easily  administered.  It 
should  not  be  so  hard  to  assess  the  tax  that  a  premium  is 
placed  on  dishonesty.     No  tax  can  be  easily  administered 


1  By  a  system  of  taxes  we  mean  the  sum  total  of  all  of  the  taxes  levied  by  any 
one  government.  In  most  countries  there  are  two  tax  systems :  the  national 
and  the  local;  in  this  country  we  sometimes  have  three:  the  national,  the 
state,  and  the  local.  Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  one  tax  is  likely  to  fulfill  all 
of  the  requirements  we  have  just  enimierated.  But  if  no  tax  is  seriously  defec- 
tive, and  if  the  system  as  a  whole  conforms  to  these  characteristics,  the  tax  sys- 
tem may  be  said  to  be  good.  In  order  to  be  satisfactory,  however,  a  tax  system 
must  do  more  than  that.  The  systems  of  the  nation,  the  state,  and  the  locaUties 
must  not  conflict  or  greatly  overlap,  while  each  system  must  be  adapted  to  the 
peculiar  needs  of  its  government,  as  shown  in  the  expenditures  of  that  govern- 
ment. 


NATIONAL  TAXES 


163 


which  does  not  meet  with  the  support  of  the  people,  or  of 
which  the  cost  of  collection  is  great.  (6)  It  should  be 
suited  to  the  district  for  which  it  is  assessed.  The  absurdity 
of  allowing  cities  or  even  states  to  levy  customs  duties  or 
internal  revenue  is  clearly  apparent,  while  a  national  land 
tax  would  be  little  suited  to  the  purpose  of  the  central 
government. 

National  Taxes 

148.  Financial  Powers  of  Congress  under  the  Constitu- 
tion. —  The  financial  powers  conferred  upon  Congress  by 
the  Constitution  are  very  extensive.  In  order  that  the 
national  government  may  meet  its  expenses.  Congress  has 
the  right  "  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and 
excises,"  provided  that  "  all  duties,  imposts,  and  excises 
shall  be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States,"  and  "  to 
borrow  money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States."  Under 
the  Confederation,  Congress  had  been  dependent  on  the 
states  for  its  revenue,  but,  since  the  adoption  of  the  Consti- 
tution, Congress  has  been  independent  of  the  states  in  finan- 
cial as  in  other  matters.^  The  powers  granted  by  the 
Constitution  have  enabled  our  national  government  to  accom- 
plish the  tasks  which  the  central  authority  of  every  nation 
must  assume. 

149.  Duties  on  Imported  Goods.  —  Our  chief  dependence 
for  national  revenue  has  been  the  tariff  or  customs  duties. 
More  than  half  of  the  articles  brought  into  the  United  States 
are  on  the  free  list,  but  on  the  other  half  a  tax  is  levied  averag- 
ing at  present  from  thirty  per  cent  to  thirty-five  per  cent  of 

1  The  financial  needs  of  the  government  have  been  met  in  different  ways 
since  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution.  We  may  distinguish  three  periods  in 
the  history  of  national  taxation.  The  first  of  these  was  brief,  lasting  from  1789 
to  1802.  Various  forms  of  customs  duties  and  internal  revenue  were  tried, 
in  addition  to  direct  taxes  on  land,  houses,  and  slaves.  The  second  period, 
from  1802  to  1 86 1,  was  marked  by  an  almost  exclusive  dependence  upon  duties, 
except  during  the  second  war  with  England.  The  third  period  dates  from  1862, 
when  the  extraordinary  expenses  of  the  Civil  War  were  met  by  additional  taxes. 
The  taxes  which  we  have  at  present,  include  not  only  customs  duties,  but  in- 
ternal revenue  taxes  on  liquors  and  tobacco,  an  income  tax,  a  small  corporation 
tax,  an  inheritance  tax,  and  some  miscellaneous  internal  taxes. 


Contrast  be- 
tween finan- 
cial powers 
under  the 
Confedera- 
tion and 
under  the 
Constitution. 


Free  and 
dutiable 
goods. 


1 64 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Merits  and 
demerits  of 
the  customs 
tax. 


Collection 
and  evasion 
of  duties. 


Rates. 


their  value ;  in  times  past  it  has  averaged  as  high  as  fifty  pel 
cent.  In  order  to  protect  American  manufactures,  most  of 
the  duties  upon  imports  are  upon  manufactured  articles 
which  come  into  competition  with  American  products. 

One  advantage  of  customs  duties  is  that  the  tax  is  not 
felt  by  the  person  who  pays  it  eventually,  for  the  importer 
simply    adds    the  amount  of  the  tax  to  the  cost  of  the 

goods,  and  the  cus- 
tomer does  not  real- 
ize how  much  of  a 
tax  he  has  paid.  Its 
chief  disadvantage 
is  the  fact  that  the 
tax  is  shifted  to 
the  consumer  and  is 
levied  upon  articles 
of  consumption, 
such  as  cloth,  crock- 
ery, and  other  com- 
modities which  are 
needed  by  the  ordi- 
nary wage  earner 
and  housekeeper. 
Consequently  the 
tax  is  paid  chiefly  by  those  who  cannot  afford  financially  to 
pay  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  government's  revenues. 

The  duties  are  collected  at  ports  of  entry  on  the  borders 
of  this  country.  There  is  some  smuggling,  especially  on  the 
part  of  travelers  who  object  to  paying  duty  on  articles  pur- 
chased abroad.  Importers  sometimes  seek  to  evade  the 
customs  laws  by  very  greatly  undervaluing  goods,  but,  if 
detected,  they  are  obliged  to  pay  a  heavy  penalty. 

150.  Internal  Revenue.  —  To-day  the  national  govern- 
ment obtains  as  much  money  from  internal  taxes  as  from 
those  upon  foreign  commerce.  The  rates  are  quite  high, 
and  the  articles  taxed  at  present  include  spirits,  fermented 
liquors,  and  the  different  forms  of  tobacco. 


Custom  House, 


©  Brown  Brothers,  New  York. 
Galveston,  Texas. 


NATIONAL  TAXES  165 

The  ease  with  which  the  revenue  from  this  tax  can  be  in-  Value  of  the 
creased  is  quite  apparent  in  the  -financial  history  of  the  Civil  ^^^  during 
and  Spanish-American  wars.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil 
War  the  national  government  was  levying  no  internal  taxes, 
but  in  1862  Congress  authorized  the  taxation  not  only  of 
spirits,  malt  liquors,  and  tobacco,  but  of  manufactures  and 
incomes.  It  also  levied  a  stamp  tax  on  ordinary  business 
transactions.  Later  in  the  war,  new  schedules  were  added  to 
these  taxes,  and  the  rates  were  increased  on  the  articles 
formerly  taxed.  A  process  somewhat  similar,  although 
less  extensive,  was  followed  during  the  Spanish-American 
War. 

The  tax  on  liquors  and  tobacco  is  a  valuable  one  at  all  importance 
times,  since  persons  who  use  those  luxuries  should  pay  a  ^^  ^^"^^  ^^ 
share  of  the  expenses  of  the  general  government.  The 
extensibility  of  internal  taxes  in  times  of  great  financial  need 
is  undoubtedly  its  most  desirable  feature,  but  excessive 
taxation  must  be  avoided,  for,  if  it  injures  industry,  it  will 
kill  the  goose  that  lays  the  golden  eggs.  It  is  likely  also  to 
cause  fraud.  Not  only  do  moonshiners  try  to  cheat  the 
government  out  of  internal  revenue,  but  great  manufacturers 
have  been  guilty  of  counterfeiting  revenue  stamps. 

151.   Income  Taxes.  —  During  the  Civil  War  incomes  of  History  of 
from  $600  to  $5000  paid  a  tax  of  five  per  cent,  those  of  more  i^^come  taxa. 

r  T        r^  tion  in  the 

than  $5000,  a  tax  of  10  per  cent.  In  1894  an  attempt  was  united 
made  to  levy  a  similar  tax,  exempting  those  whose  income  States, 
amounted  to  less  than  $4000  annually.  This  was  opposed 
as  class  legislation,  since  a  much  heavier  burden  would  be 
placed  upon  the  capitalist  of  the  East  than  on  people  of  the 
West,  most  of  whose  incomes  were  small.  This  tax  was 
held  by  the  Supreme  Court  to  be  unconstitutional,  since 
according  to  the  Constitution  direct  taxes  must  be  levied  on 
the  states  according  to  their  population. 

In  1 9 13  demand  for  an  income  tax  had  become  so  great  National  in- 
that   the    Sixteenth    Amendment   to   the    Constitution   was  ^p"^^  ^^^ 
adopted,  providing   for  such  taxes.     The  national  govern-  ^^^^^  ^^^^' 
ment    very    promptly    levied    an    income    tax  which    ex- 


i66 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


National  in- 
heritance 
taxes. 


Corporation 
and  internal 
taxes. 


The  burden 
of  national 
taxation. 


empted  $3000  (now  $1000)  for  every  individual  and  $4000 
(now  $2000)  for  every  married  couple  which  had  a  joint  in- 
come. Since  it  was  thought  that  persons  with  large  incomes 
were  able  financially  to  pay  much  heavier  taxes  than  those 
with  moderate  incomes,  the  tax  was  made  progressive,  that 
is,  the  rate  was  made  much  higher  for  the  larger  incomes. ^ 

152.  Miscellaneous  National  Taxes.  —  These  taxes  which 
we  have  just  considered,  with  direct  taxes  used  five  times  ^ 
in  the  past,  complete  our  system  of  taxation  with  three  slight 
exceptions.  A  minor  source  of  revenue  which  was  used  from 
1898  to  1902  and  since  19 16  has  been  the  progressive  tax 
upon  legacies^  similar  to  state  inheritance  taxes  (§  156). 

Another  exception  is  the  stamp  tax  upon  internal  business 
other  than  liquor  and  tobacco.  Recently  this  tax  has  applied 
to  important  papers  and  transfers  of  property.  Most  of 
these  taxes  have  been  repealed,  but  in  191 7  new  national 
taxes  were  created  to  meet  extraordinary  expenditures  for  de- 
fense. The  taxes  on  manufactured  articles  at  the  time  of  the 
Civil  War  were  analogous  to  this  internal  stamp  tax.  The 
third  additional  tax  at  present  is  the  corporation  tax,  a  tax  of 
one  per  cent  on  the  net  income  of  corporations  doing  an 
interstate  business  amounting  to  more  than  $5000  a  year. 
Large  excess  profits  taxes  have  been  levied  since  191 7,  with 
maximum  rates  of  65  per  cent. 

The  total  national  revenue  from  all  forms  of  taxes  for  the 
fiscal  year  of  19 14-19 15  amounted  to  about  $700,000,000, 
nearly  80  per  cent  of  which  came  from  customs  or  internal 
revenue  on  liquors  and  tobacco.     Although  these  taxes  were 

1  The  19 13  tax  carried  rates  from  i  to  7  per  cent,  that  of  191 6  from  i  to  15  per 
cent,  that  of  1917  from  2  to  65  per  cent,  and  that  of  1919  from  6  to  65  per  cent. 

2  It  was  supposed  when  the  Constitution  was  adopted  that  a  large  part  of 
the  revenue  of  the  United  States  government  would  come  from  direct  taxes 
levied  upon  the  states  in  proportion  to  their  population,  but  Congress  had  not 
seen  fit  to  gain  money  by  this  means  except  five  times,  four  of  which  were  dur- 
ing the  wars  of  181 2  and  1861.  Unlike  the  taxes  upon  imports  or  manufactures, 
Congress  does  not  decide  what  the  rate  shall  be,  but  ascertains  the  total  amount 
of  the  tax,  apportioning  to  each  state  its  share. 

<  The  national  inheritance  tax  exempts  $50,000  from  every  estate.  The 
rates  on  the  net  estate,  after  deducting  debts,  vary  from  2  per  cent  to  25  per  cent, 
according  to  the  total  amount. 


NATIONAL  TAXES  167 

paid  by  those  who  used  the  articles  taxed,  and  therefore 
could  be  avoided  if  the  consumers  wished  to  go  without  these 
commodities,  this  burden  of  $7  per  capita  or  about  $35  for 
each  family  of  five  was  borne  chiefly  by  the  workers  of  the 
nation,  that  is,  by  men  of  small  incomes. 

153.   The  Management  of  National  Finances.  —  In  pubHc  Why  the 
finance  the  amount  of  revenue  to  be  raised  depends  to  a  govern- 
large  extent  on  the  government's  expenditures.     A  govern-   penditure  de- 
ment is  not  like  an  individual,  whose  expenses  depend  upon  termines  the 
his  income.     It  has  certain  governmental  duties  to  perform,   ^^^l^{ 
and  in  doing  them  it  thinks  first  of  carrying  on  its  work  and  revenue, 
secondly  of  raising  the  necessary  money. 

If  the  expense  is  unavoidable  and  the  revenue  is  not  The  raising 
forthcoming,  the  government  sooner  or  later  goes  to  pieces.   ^^  ordinary 
The  question  is  not  whether  the  money  can  be  obtained,  but  binary  ^^^^' 
by  what  means  it  can  be  secured.^    In  case  the  government  revenues, 
needs  to  raise  money  for  extraordinary  expenses,  as  in  time 
of  war,  it  is  customary  to  issue  bonds,  which  are  sold  publicly 
to  the  highest  bidders.  ^ 

During  the  Great  War,  our  government  raised  by.  sale  of 
bonds  a  sum  of  more  than  twenty-two  billion  dollars.  There 
were  four  Liberty  Loans  of  bonds  issued  at  rates  of  3I-  per 
cent  to  4^  per  cent.  Each  state  and  each  community  had  a 
certain  amount  which  it  was  expected  to  raise.  Committees 
were  organized  to  solicit  subscriptions  and  see  that  the  com- 
munities reached  their  quotas^.  Most  towns  subscribed  the 
full  amount  and  went  "  over  the  top  "  long  before  the  end  of 
the  campaign.  In  addition,  the  government  sold  large  num- 
bers of  thrift  stamps  and  war  savings  stamps  (W.  S.  S.). 

^  In  Congress  the  organization  of  the  financial  committees  is  rather  unusual. 
A  single  committee  in  each  house  of  Congress,  as  the  Finance  Committee  in  the 
Senate  and  in  the  House  the  Ways  and  Means  Committee,  has  entire  charge 
of  proposing  or  formulating  methods  for  raising  revenue.  This  centralization 
of  power  and  responsibility  is  desirable.  However,  there  is  no  direct  correla- 
tion between  the  work  of  these  committees  and  the  work  of  the  numerous  appro- 
priation committees  in  each  chamber. 

2  During  the  Civil  War  bonds  to  the  value  of  several  thousand  million  dollars 
were  sold,  sometimes  for  less  than  half  their  face  value  in  gold.  During  recent 
years  our  national  government  has  been  able  to  sell  bonds  in  almost  unlimited 


i68 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Extensive 
use  and  na- 
ture of  the 
tax. 


State  and  Local  Taxation 

154.  The  General  Property  Tax.  —  At  least  three  fourths 
of  the  revenue  for  our  state  and  local  governments  comes 
from  the  general  property  tax,  which  is  in  the  universal  use 
for  state  as  well  as  local  governments  except  in  a  few  states. 
Theoretically,  this  tax  is  levied  upon  everything  which  pos- 
sesses value.  One  part  of  the  tax  is  assessed  upon  real  estate, 
i.e.  lands  and  houses,  the  other  upon  personal  property, 
including  household  furniture,  farm  implements,  horses,  and 
cattle. 

There  are  certain  difficulties  inseparable  from  the  assess- 
ment of  any  property.     Since  the  assessed  value  of  real  estate 


CITIES 

AND 

COUNTIES 


General  Sources  of  State  and  Local  Revenue  (1913). 


DiflSculties  in 

assessing 
real  estate 
and  personal 
property. 


must  depend  to  a  great  extent  upon  an  assessor's  judgment, 
it  is  difficult  to  make  an  assessment  uniform  over  an  area  as 
large  as  a  county.  It  is  absolutely  impossible  to  do  so  over 
an  area  as  large  as  a  state.  To  be  sure,  state  boards  of  equal- 
ization try  to  even  up  inequalities,  but  the  different  counties 
rather  successfully  undervalue  their  property  in  order  to 
escape  their  share  of  state  taxation.  The  assessment  of 
personal  property  is  far  more  difficult,  because  most  wealthy 
individuals  conceal  stocks,  bonds,  and  other  "  intangible ' 
property.  Consequently,  the  personal  property  tax  law  is 
almost  a  dead  letter. 

amounts  at  rates  of  interest  less  then  3  per  cent.  During  the  Civil  War,  as  well 
as  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  government  borrowed  by  issuing  paper 
money.  There  are  still  in  circulation  some  of  the  greenbacks  issued  during  the 
Civil  War,  by  which  the  government  paid  a  fair  share  of  its  expenses. 


STATE  AND  LOCAL  TAXATION 


169 


The  principal  objections  to  the  general  property  tax 
may  be  stated  as  follows : 

(i)  It  is  practically  impossible  to  discover  and  assess 
*'  intangible  "  property  by  means  of  this  tax,  and  the  tax 
is,  therefore,  in  reality  a  real  estate  tax,  although  theoretically 
a  tax  on  general  property. 

(2)  As  a  result  of  this  failure,  the  farmer  and  the  poor 
man  pay  very  much  more  than  their  wealthier  neighbors  in 
proportion  to  their  ability,  especially  as  few  states  or  local- 
ities tax  the  unearned  increment. 

(3)  Because  of  the  difficulties  of  assessing  it  over  a  large 
area,  it  is  not  a  good  state  tax. 

155.  Corporation  Taxes.  —  Many  states  are  now  seeking, 
through  a  tax  upon  corporations,  to  reach  stocks  and  bonds 
which  formerly  escaped  taxation.  They  single  out  particu- 
larly those  public  service  corporations  upon  whom  special 
privileges  have  been  conferred  by  the  people,  but  in  most 
cases  they  include  also  industrial  corporations.^ 

Some  states  try  to  tax  hanks  by  making  them  pay  a  tax 
on  their  stock.  Insurance  companies  may  be  taxed  on  the 
total  amount  of  the  premiums  which  they  receive  each  year. 
Large  manufacturing  corporations  are  often  obliged  to  contrib- 
ute a  part  of  their  net  income,  but  more  frequently  the  tax 
is  assessed  upon  their  capital  stock.  Street  railways,  steam 
railways,  express  companies,  telegraph  and  telephone  com- 
panies, and  other  public  service  corporations  are  often  taxed 


Defects  of 
the  general 
property  tax. 


Reasons  for 
corporation 
taxation. 


Different 
corporations 
subject  to 
special  tax. 


^  Since  our  business  life  is  not  so  simple  as  it  once  was,  our  present  systems 
of  taxation  in  most  of  the  states  are  rather  antiquated  and  unjust  since  they 
cannot  be  adapted  to  our  present-day  industrial  conditions.  Most  European 
countries  have  tried  and  found  fairly  successful  some  forms  of  corporation  taxes. 
The  eastern  states  that  have  depended  chiefly  on  corporation  taxes  find  them 
superior  to  the  general  property  tax  for  purposes  of  state  revenue  and  rnore  just 
to  the  poorer  classes.  It  has  been  found  possible  to  avoid  the  two  great  dangers 
of  industrial  taxation,  (i)  The  chief  objection  to  levying  taxes  on  industry 
is  that  industry  may  be  injured  by  the  extra  burden  imposed.  In  practice  it  is 
found  that  to-day  industry  can  afford  to  pay  taxes  better  than  agriculture  or 
labor.  (2)  Under  our  present  system  of  federal  government,  the  states  must 
avoid  severe  laws  against  corporations  or  these  will  transfer  their  business  in 
some  cases  to  other  states.  This  danger  has  not  been  realized  in  the  attempts  to 
tax  corporations. 


170 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Principle  of 
the  tax. 


Progressive 
nature  of  the 
rates. 


Liquor 
licenses  and 
public  utiUty 
revenues. 


separately.  Sometimes  these  companies  are  assessed  accord- 
ing to  the  value  of  their  franchises,  which  is  usually  repre- 
sented by  the  market  value  of  their  stock.  Corporation  taxes 
will  undoubtedly  be  used  more  in  each  succeeding  decade, 
although  they  may  not  be  adopted  extensively  on  account  of 
problems  in  administration. 

156.  Inheritance  Taxes.  —  Many  states  tax  inheritances. 
It  is  held  to  be  an  especially  fair  tax  because  it  is  according  to 
ability  and  social  justice.  It  is  based  on  the  principle  that 
the  state  has  a  real  claim  upon  the  property  of  any  one  who 
has  amassed  wealth  under  the  protection  of  its  laws,  if  this 
property  is  transferred  without  cost  to  another  who  did  not 
aid  in  its  accumulation.  It  is  held  that  legatees  who  ac- 
quire wealth  which  they  have  not  earned  are  able  to  pay  a 
fair  percentage  of  the  money  bequeathed  to  them  in  the  form 
of  a  tax.  Inheritance  taxes  are  used  in  most  foreign  countries, 
by  the  national  government  (§  152),  and  in  about  one  half 
of  the  states. 

Few,  if  any,  of  .the  states  require  a  tax  to"  be  paid  upon 
small  bequests  to  a  wife,  a  husband,  or  a  child.  But  if  the 
bequest  is  large,  or  the  legatee  is  not  closely  related  to  the  de- 
ceased, a  fair  percentage  of  the  property  must  be  paid  into 
the  state  treasury.  In  other  words,  the  tax  is  often  pro- 
gressive, i.e.  the  rate  increases  with  the  amount  of  the  bequest 
or  the  lack  of  relationship  between  the  deceased  and  the 
legatee. 

157.  Other  Forms  of  State  and  Local  Revenue.  —  A 
form  of  revenue  of  some  importance  for  local  governments 
is  the  system  of  licenses,  particularly  those  upon  liquor 
saloons  and  places  of  amusement.  Another  kind  of  local 
revenue  is  furnished  by  the  business  enterprises  conducted 
by  our  governments.  Our  post  office  usually  has  a  deficit, 
but  some  municipal  public  utilities  (§§  177-184),  such  as 
waterworks  or  electric  Hghting  plants,  have  furnished  a  net 
income  above  their  expenses.  This  ordinarily  is  small, 
since  usually  the  business  is  conducted  with  a  view  of 
doing  as  much  as  possible  for  the  citizens,  rather  than  mak- 


STATE  AND  LOCAL  TAXATION 


171 


ing  money.  In  the  sale  of  franchises  for  privately  owned 
utilities  (§  179)  an  additional  source  of  revenue  is  secured. 
The  large  income  which  the  city  rightly  should  receive  from 
that  source  has  seldom  been  returned  to  the  public.  In 
some  states  we  still  have  poll  taxes,  and  in  a  few  common- 
wealths no  one  may  vote  until  his  poll  tax  has  been  paid. 

The  cost  of  local  improvements  is  usually  met,  in  large  part 
at  least,  by  special  assessments.  For  our  state  governments 
heavy  debts  are  not  customary,  because  the  work  of  the  state 
government  deals  less  with  administration  which  involves 
expense,  than  with  legislation,  which  does  not  call  for  large 
revenues.  City  governments,  on  the  contrary,  ordinarily 
are  heavily  burdened  with  debt.  A  large  part  represents 
waste,  but  some  of  the  debt  stands  for  good  investments. 
Because  of  the  danger  of  heavy  municipal  debts,  many  state 
constitutions  have  placed  a  limit  on  the  amount  of  debt  which 
any  of  its  local/governments  may  incur.  Most  bond  issues 
must  be  approved  by  the  voters  at  the  polls  before  the  bonds 
can  be  sold. 

An  examination  of  the  scheme  of  taxation  in  use  in  Ameri- 
can states,  cities,  and  counties  shows  that  most  of  the  tax 
systems  in  use  are  not  well  adapted  to  the  social  and  business 
needs  of  the  people.  This  is  due  chiefly  to  the  great  depend- 
ence placed  upon  the  old  general  property  tax.  The  excep- 
tions are  (i)  the  rural  communities  in  which  that  tax  is  satis- 
factory because  almost  all  property  is  visible,  (2)  the  states 
which,  by  separating  state  from  local  taxation,  have  estab- 
lished satisfactory  corporation  taxes,  and  (3)  the  cities  which 
make  wise  investments  in  real  estate,  enjoy  profits  from  public 
utilities,  and  have  Hcenses  upon  local  business. 


Special 
assessments 
for  local  im- 
provements. 


Defects  and 
merits  of 
state  and 
local  taxa- 
tion. 


General  References 

Hart,  Actual  Government,  381-429. 
Bullock,  Principles  of  Economics,  539-550,  559-587. 
Plehn,  Introduction  to  Public  Finance. 
Adams,  Science  of  Finance,  434-564. 

Bullock  (ed.).  Selected  Readings  in  Public  Finance,  1-92,  193-253, 
280-306,  337-395,  425-584. 


172  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

United  States  Twelfth  Census  Abstract  and  special  Bulletins  on  Wealthy 
Debt,  and  Taxation  (1913). 

Taussig,  Principles  of  Economics,  II,  483-560. 

Reinsch,  Readings  on  American  Federal  Government,  299-361. 

Topics 

The  Defects  of  the  General  Property  Tax  :  Adams,  Science  of 
Finance,  434-449;  Seligman,  Essays  in  Taxation,  23-37;  Ely,  Taxation 
in  American  States  and  Cities,  146-201;  Bullock  (ed.).  Selected  Readings 
in  Public  Finance,  202-253. 

Internal  Revenue:  Plehn,  Public  Finance  (169-175);  Adams, 
Science  of  Finance,  377-386;  Bullock,  Readings  in  Public  Finance,  449- 
472 ;  Howe,  Internal  Revenue  System. 

Studies 

1.  Taxation  in  American  cities.  Annals  of  the  American  Academy, 
28  (1906),  155-172. 

2.  Conditions  and  needs  of  local  taxation.  Seligman,  E.  R.  A.,  in 
Political  Science  Quarterly,  22  (1907),  297-314. 

3.  Suggestions  for  a  revenue  system.  Adams,  Science  of  Finance, 
500-516. 

4.  Taxation  of  land  in  American  cities.  Beard,  American  City 
Government,  134-141. 

5.  Financial  aspects  of  the  customs  revenue.  Bullock  (ed..).  Public 
Finance,  425-448. 

6.  Preparation  of  a  national  revenue  bill.  Beard,  Readings  in 
American  Government  and  Politics,  333-337. 

7.  Congress  and  appropriations.  Reinsch,  Readings  on  American 
Federal  Government,  301-309,  317-320. 

8.  Congressional  extravagance.  Reinsch,  Readings  on  American 
Federal  Government,  355-361. 

9.  The  pork  barrel.  Burton,  T.  E.,  in  WorWs  Work,  25  (1913), 
438-443. 

10.  Our  national  debt,  historical  and  descriptive.  Austin,  O.  P.,  in 
North  Am^erican  Review,  175  (1902),  566-576,  701-720. 

Questions 

1.  For  what  three  purposes  was  the  most  money  expended  last  year 
by  this  county  ?  by  this  city  ?  by  this  state  ?  by  the  national  government  ? 

2.  Explain  why  private  property  is  a  public  institution.  Why  is  it 
reasonable  and  just  that  it  should  be  held  subject  to  public  needs  and 
be  taken  in  part  by  taxation  by  the  public?  In  what  other  ways  may 
private  property  be  taken  for  public  use? 


PUBLIC  FINANCE  173 

3.  Name  the  articles  from  which  most  of  our  income  from  customs 
duties  is  now  derived.     (Newspaper  almanacs.) 

4.  Have  we  a  national  tax  at  present  on  any  commercial  trans- 
actions?   To  what  taxes  is  the  progressive  principle  applied? 

5.  Make  a  table  showing  the  national  revenue  derived  from  each 
source  during  the  last  fiscal  year.  Do  the  same  for  the  national 
expenditures.     Does  the  amount  of  any  item  seem  unjust  ? 

6.  What  serious  defects  are  noted  in  the  methods  used  by  Congress 
in  the  control  of  finance  ? 

7.  Look  up  for  the  city  and  county  :  the  total  assessed  valuation  of 
property,  the  tax  rate,  the  income  from  the  general  property  tax,  the 
income  from  other  important  sources. 

8.  What  is  the  amount  of  the  city  debt?  Is  there  a  limit  to  the 
amount  of  debt  that  may  be  incurred  ? 

9.  On  what  taxes  does  this  state  depend  for  its  revenue?  Explain 
all  state  taxes  besides  the  general  property  tax. 

10.  To  what  extent  are  our  systems  of  taxation  fair  and  just?  Are 
taxes  paid  chiefly  by  those  who  should  pay  them?  Name  two  taxes  in 
which  serious  defects  still  exist,  explaining  the  defect  and,  if  possible, 
suggesting  a  remedy. 


CHAPTER  X 
CITY  GOVERNMENT 


Reasons  for 
growth. 


Civic  results 
of  rapid 
growth  of 
American 
cities. 


158.  The  Remarkable  Growth  of  Our  Cities.  —  We  can 
appreciate  the  importance  of  city  government  if  we  realize 
that  two  fifths  of  all  the  people  of  the  United  States  live  in 
cities  of  more  than  8000  inhabitants,  whereas  twenty-five 
years  ago  only  one  fifth  of  our  population  dwelt  in  cities. 
The  chief  motives  influencing  this  migration  to  urban  centers 
have  been  the  increased  opportunities  of  business  advance- 
ment which  a  city  offers,  and  the  social  and  educational 
advantages  found  there.  Because  of  the  many  calls  which 
city  life  makes  upon  the  time  of  its  people,  less  chance  is 
given  the  voters  to  interest  themselves  in  the  way  the  govern- 
ment is  conducted.  Since  they  do  not  become  acquainted 
with  their  neighbors  as  in  the  country,  the  candidates  for 
city  offices  are  known  personally  by  few  voters. 

This  indifference  of  the  people  to  city  affairs  is  increased 
by  the  lack  of  great  public  questions  in  connection  with  the 
municipal  government.  The  vast  number  of  details  with 
which  city  officials  are  concerned,  from  their  very  complexity, 
make  supervision  of  city  administration  by  the  voters  almost 
impossible.  It  is  well  known  that  our  city  governments 
have  often  fallen  into  the  hands  of  men  whose  sole  business 
is  "  politics,"  and  whose  care  for  the  public  welfare  is  less 
marked  than  their  devotion  to  private  interests.  This  is 
the  more  unfortunate  because  the  regulation  of  a  city's 
business  involves  the  expenditure  of  a  much  greater  amount 
of  money  in  proportion  to  the  population  than  does  that  of 
the  county,  the  state,  or  the  national  government ;  conse- 
quently all  citizens  should  be  vitally  interested  in  having 
their  city's  government  as  perfect  as  possible. 

174 


MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION 


175 


Organization 


159.  The  Municipal  Charter.  —  All  cities  are  public  cor- 
porations 1  created  under  state  laws.^  After  a  city  has  been 
incorporated,  a  charter  is  granted  by  the  state  legislature 
or  formulated  by  a  committee  selected  by  the  voters  of  the 
city.  This  charter  is  the  fundamental  law  of  the  city,  al- 
though it  is  subordinate  in  every  respect  to  the  state  consti- 
tution. The  most  vital  part  of  the  charter  deals  with  the 
frame  of  the  government  for  the  city,  showing  the  composi- 
tion and  powers  of  the  legislative  body  known  as  the  council 
or  commission,  and  the  term  and  duties  of  the  most  important 
administrative  officials. 

Formerly  most  city  charters  were  granted  by  special  act 
of  the  legislature.  Nowadays  the  legislatures  usually  grant 
the  charters  under  general  laws.  The  state  divides  its  cities 
into  classes  according  to  size,  and  a  form  of  charter  is  en- 
acted by  the  legislature  for  the  cities  of  each  class.  A  few 
states  which  have  this  form  of  charter,  however,  sometimes 
permit  the  larger  cities  to  modify  these  general  charters, 
or  even  to  draw  up  a  special  charter  for  the  city. 

Twelve  states  now  allow  every  city,  small  towns  being 
excepted,  to  elect  charter  committees  which  frame  home 
rule  charters  such  as  are  desired  by  the  people  of  that  munici- 
pality.^   In  a  few  cases  these  charters  go  into  force  as  soon 

1  §  186. 

*  When  the  population  of  any  rural  district  becomes  fairly  dense,  the  voters 
may  petition  to  have  a  special  election  called  in  order  to  determine  whether 
the  district  shall  be  incorporated  as  a  city  or  village.  If  the  vote  is  favorable, 
articles  of  incorporation  are  drawn  up  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  the  state. 
These  articles  state  the  boundaries  of  the  city  or  village,  as  well  as  the  number, 
terms,  and  powers  of  the  officials.  Chief  among  the  officials  of  a  village  are 
the  members  of  the  village  boards,  corresponding  to  the  city  council,  whose 
presiding  officer  is  "  mayor  "  of  the  village.  Other  duties  are  performed  by  the 
clerk,  the  treasurer,  the  assessor,  and  the  overseers  of  the  poor.  These  village 
governments  are  therefore  quite  similar  to  those  of  the  cities,  athough  their 
tasks  are  less  numerous  and  their  problems  much  easier  to  solve. 

3  The  twelve  states  which  in  191 6  provided  for  charter  committees  were 
Missouri,  California,  Washington,  Minnesota,  Colorado,  Oregon,  Michigan, 
Oklahoma,  Arizona,  Ohio,  Nebraska,  and  Texas. 


Nature  of  a 
dty  charter. 


Classes  of 
municipal 
charters  in 
most  states. 


Freehold  or 
home  rule 
charters. 


176 


THE   NEW   CIVICS 


Increase  of 
home  rule 
since  1800. 


The  three 
types. 


Two  kinds  of 
mayor  and 
coimcil  gov- 
ernments. 


Composition 
of  the 
coimcil . 


Powers  exer- 
cised by  the 
city  coimcil. 


as  they  are  approved  by  the  voters  of  the  cities,  but  ordi- 
narily they  must  be  ratified  by  the  state  legislature. 

160.  Three  Types  of  City  Government  at  Present.  — 
Until  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  was  cus- 
tomary for  American  states  to  govern  their  cities,  only  the 
members  of  the  municipal  council  being  elected  by  a  select 
set  of  voters  within  the  city.  After  American  government 
in  general  became  more  democratic,  popular  election  was 
substituted  for  appointment  in  the  selection  of  the  most 
important  administrative  officials. 

At  present  there  are  three  types  of  city  government  in  use, 
(i)  the  mayor  and  council  type,  (2)  the  commission  form,  and 
(3)  the  city  manager  plan. 

Of  the  mayor  and  council  type  there  are  two  kinds.  In 
the  older  form  the  council  has  considerable  power  and  the 
municipal  administration  is  intrusted  to  a  large  number  of 
unrelated  officials  or  bodies.  In  the  later,  more  centralized 
form,  which  was  adopted  extensively  during  the  last  part  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  the  council  has  less  authority,  there 
are  fewer  elected  administrative  officials,  and  more  power  is 
concentrated  in  the  hands  of  the  mayor,  the  auditor,  and 
one  or  two  associates. 

161.  The  City  Council.  —  As  a  rule  the  councils  of  our 
cities  are  small  bodies  of  from  ten  to  twenty  members  com- 
prising a  single  chamber,  although  in  about  one  city  in  four 
there  is  a  second  chamber,  just  as  in  the  state  legislatures 
and  in  Congress.  In  some  of  the  cities  the  members  of  the 
council  are  elected  from  wards  or  from  special  districts  into 
which  the  city  is  divided ;  in  some  they  are  elected  from  the 
city  at  large.  The  chief  objection  to  the  first  system  is 
that  councils  are  apt  to  be  composed  of  ward  politicians. 
In  the  second  system,  however,  the  minority  sections  or 
groups  may  be  almost  entirely  unrepresented. 

The  council  is  not  allowed  to  exercise  any  power  except 
those  specifically  mentioned  in  the  city  charter.  Usually 
the  list  of  enumerated  powers  is  quite  long,  giving  the  council 
the  right  to  construct  pubHc  buildings  or  other  public  im- 


MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION  177 

provements  and  to  make  ordinances  for  controlling  the 
streets,  preventing  disorder,  regulating  licenses,  caring  for 
the  health  of  the  community,  and  for  mahy  other  matters  of 
local  interest.  The  council  is  usually  the  chief  financial 
organ  of  the  city.  To  it  estimates  of  the  expenses  of  the 
different  departments  are  furnished,  by  it  appropriations 
are  voted,  and  provision  is  made  to  meet  the  expenditures 
through  taxation  or  other  forms  of  revenue.     When  it  be- 


CiTY  Hall,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

comes  necessary  to  borrow  money,  the  council  is  authorized 
to  issue  bonds  for  the  necessary  amount,  although  sometimes 
the  council  must  secure  the  approval  of  the  voters.  When 
companies  apply  for  franchises  to  lay  a  street  railway  track, 
or  furnish  telephone  service  or  gas,  the  applications  are  made 
to  the  council,  but  in  some  cities  franchises  cannot  be  granted 
without  a  favorable  vote  of  the  people. 

162.   The  Mayor.  —  In  many  of  the  cities  which  have  the 
mayor  and  council  type  of  government,  the  mayor  is  simply 


178 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


The  older 
type  of 
mayor. 


The  mayor 
with  con- 
centrated 
authority. 


Commission 
government 
as  a  remedy 
for  defects 
in  municipal 
government. 


Commission- 
ers as  a  gov- 
erning body 
and  as  ad- 
ministrative 
heads. 


the  most  important  of  the  administrative  officials.  He  is 
aided  by  many  associates  or  colleagues  who  are  independent 
of  him,  since  they  are  chosen  without  consulting  him  and 
may  not  be  removed  at  all.  As  mayor  he  has  a  little  power 
of  appointment,  but  he  selects  very  few  officials.  He  must 
enforce  the  laws  and  he  has  the  right  to  veto  bills  passed  by 
the  council. 

Such  a  system  as  this  is  naturally  headless.  There  is  a 
maximum  of  inefficiency  with  a  minimum  of  responsibility. 
Consequently,  as  our  city  governments  were  very  badly 
managed,  an  attempt  was  made,  during  the  late  years  of  the 
nineteenth  century  and  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth,  to 
remedy  the  worst  evils  of  municipal  government  by  concen- 
trating power  in  the  hands  of  the  mayor.  Many  mayors 
are  allowed  to  select  and  remove,  with  the  consent  of  the 
council,  most  of  the  subordinate  executive  officials  and 
boards.  Consequently  in  these  cities  he  is  held  responsible 
for  the  success  or  failure  of  municipal  administration. 
Comparatively  few  cities  have  changed  to  this  form  of  govern- 
ment within  recent  years. 

163.  Commission  Government.  —  More  than  three  hun- 
dred cities. in  the  United  States,  chiefly  of  medium  size,  have 
sought  to  secure  better  government  by  a  radical  change  in 
municipal  organization.  Instead  of  having  a  council  with  a 
mayor,  these  cities  select  a  body  of  commissioners,  usually 
five  in  number,  who  are  the  chief  and  in  a  sense  the  sole 
governing  body  of  the  city.  The  commissioners  are  elected 
at  large  and  are  afterward  assigned  to  different  departments, 
all  of  the  administrative  work  of  the  city  being  under  these 
large  departments.  Election  at  large  helps  to  prevent  the 
selection  of  ward  politicians  to  these  offices. 

There  is  considerable  concentration  of  authority  and 
therefore  of  responsibility  in  the  hands  of  this  single  body  of 
men.  As  a  commission  they  make  ordinances  and  super- 
vise the  affairs  of  the  city  in  general.  It  is  in  their  power  to 
adopt  a  unified  policy  of  city  planning  and  development. 
As  administrators  each  has  charge  of  a  department  for  which 


MUNICIPAL  ORGANIZATION  1 79 

he  is  presumably  well  fitted.  The  men  who  make  ordinances 
and  supervise  the  general  affairs  of  the  city  also  supervise 
the  administration  of  municipal  ordinances  and  policies. 
In  this  way  there  is  a  close  correlation  between  legislation  and 
administration,  undoubtedly  a  wise  and  necessary  provision 
in  municipal  government. 

164.  Merits  of  Commission  Government.  —  Since  com-  Advantages, 
mission  government  is  one  of  the  latest  types  used  in  our 

cities,  it  embodies  many  of  the  reform  methods  which  have 
been  favored  in  recent  years.  The  very  change  from  an  old 
government  to  a  new  form  has  in  itself  tended  to  awaken 
civic  interest  and  secure  popular  cooperation,  which  may 
have  been  lacking  before.  In  many  ways  these  reforms  have 
been  desirable,  but  they  are  not  necessary  characteristics  of 
commission  government  alone.  That  commission  govern- 
ment is  adapted  to  the  needs  of  medium-sized  cities  seems 
apparent,  because  it  simplifies  the  older,  more  complex  form 
of  municipal  administration,  gives  more  unity  to  the  govern- 
ment, and  concentrates  administrative  authority  in  the  hands 
of  a  single  body. 

That  commission  government  is  adapted  to  the  needs  of  Limitations, 
larger  cities  does  not  seem  to  be  indicated  either  by  the  nature 
of  its  organization  or  by  the  rather  moderate  success  which  it 
has  attained  in  the  few  larger  cities  where  it  has  been  tried. 
Many  people  beUeve  that  commission  government,  although 
apparently  an  excellent  form  of  concentration,  is  headless 
because  no  one  person  is  in  control.  However,  it  has  so 
much  concentration  that  to  others  it  seems  unrepresentative 
and  undemocratic  and  therefore  dangerous.  They  fear  that, 
if  corrupt  influences  are  powerful  enough,  it  may  make  some 
older  forms  of  municipal  graft  and  corruption  seem  childishly 
simple. 

165.  The  City  Manager.  —  The  newest  type  of  city  or- 
ganization provides  for  a  city  manager  in  addition  to  either 
the  commission  or  the  mayor  and  council.^    The  city  man- 

^  Although  the  city  manager  is  preeminently  an  expert  administrative  of- 
ficer, the  plan  has  been  adopted  chiefly  in  cities  with  commission  government. 


i8o 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The  city 
manager  as 
supervisory 
administra- 
tive expert. 


Beginnings 
of  city  gov- 
ernment. 


Experimen- 
tation and 
problems. 


ager  is  an  expert,  not  necessarily  a  resident  of  the  city,  who 
is  selected  for  the  purpose  of  assuming  entire  control  of  city 
administration.  Since  a  municipality  is  to  a  large  extent  a 
business  corporation,  there  seems  good  reason  to  believe  that 
a  business  manager  who  knows  municipal  business  should  be 
able  to  organize  efficient  city  government,  just  as  the  general 
managers  of  big  business  corporations  are  doing  everywhere 
for  business.  Of  course  it  will  take  time  to  train  good  city 
managers;  good  results  must  not  be  expected  of  untrained 
managers  selected  for  short  terms. 

Although  the  manager's  term  is  very  short  in  most  of 
the  American  cities  which  have  been  experimenting  with 
this  plan,  he  has  the  right  usually  to  appoint  all  subordinate 
administrative  experts  who  are  under  his  supervision  and 
control.  Ordinarily  he  has  charge  of  the  making  of  the  city 
budget  and  therefore  of  the  city  finances.  In  most  cities 
which  have  adopted  this  system  he  also  has  the  power  to 
see  that  all  laws  and  ordinances  are  enforced.  At  this 
writing  (1916)  this  plan  has  not  yet  been  tried  long  enough 
to  prove  its  real  merits  or  demerits.  The  city  manager  is 
not  to  be  confused  with  the  burgomaster  of  the  German 
city,  from  whom  he  is  radically  different. 

It  can  be  seen  from  this  brief  survey  of  city  governments 
that  we  are  still  in  a  period  of  transition.  We  realize  the 
defects  of  municipal  government  and  seek  something  better 
than  we  have.  Out  of  our  experimenting  we  are  bound  in 
time  to  evolve  forms  of  city  government  which  will  be 
adapted  to  American  conditions  and  to  the  needs  of  large  as 
well  as  small  cities. 


General  Problems  of  City  Government 

186.  The   Problem   of  Functions.  —  There  has   been   a 
decided  tendency  in  recent  years  for  all  our  governments, 

Since  the  commission  itself  was  intended  to  be  a  body  of  expert  administrative 
heads  who  were  organized  into  a  single  body  for  the  making  of  ordinances  and 
directing  the  policy  of  the  city,  the  principles  underlying  the  city  manager  plan 
seem  to  be  greatly  at  variance  with  those  underlying  the  commission  form  of 
government. 


GENERAL  MUNICIPAL  PROBLEMS  l8l 


especially  those  of  cities,  to  extend  the  number  of  duties  Increase  and 

classes  of 
functions. 


which   they  perform.     Even   yet  American   municipalities  classes  of 


do  less  for  their  people  than  is  done  by  the  most  progressive 
European  cities.  We  may  classify  municipal  duties  as 
strictly  governmental  duties  or  business  duties.  Most  of  the 
business  functions  will  be  considered  later  under  the  topic 
"  Municipal  Public  UtiUties." 

Under  the  strictly  governmental  activities  we  find  first  Public  safety 
that  of  preserving  order,  since  disorder,  evasion  of  law,  and  regulations. 
crime  increase  as  population  becomes  more  congested. 
Fully  as  important  is  the  subject  of  health.  The  larger  the 
city,  the  greater  the  menace  to  health  from  epidemics, 
from  the  spread  of  ordinary  contagious  diseases,  and  from 
the  accumulation  of  filth  and  waste  (§257).  In  self -pro- 
tection cities  must  make  and  enforce  strict  plumbing  and 
sewage  regulations,  they  must  provide  a  supply  of  pure 
water,  they  must  prevent  the  use  of  preservatives  in  milk 
or  meats,  and  must  have  careful  inspection  of  all  foods 
which  are  offered  for  sale  (§§  258,  259). 

The  proper  paving  and  care  of  streets  constitutes  a  task  of  Improve- 
no  mean  proportions  (§  284).     The  construction  of  public  "^entsand 
school  buildings,  the  maintenance  of  schools  (§§  242-247)   fare  work. 
of  every  grade,  from  kindergartens  to  high  schools  or  even 
colleges,   and   the   selection   of   teachers,   require   the  best 
thought  and  effort  of  one  of  the  cities'  most  important  depart- 
mehts,  the  Board  of  Education.     Almost  as  essential  for 
the  social  well-being  of  the  people  is  the  work  of  education, 
culture,  and  recreation  furnished  by  city  libraries  (§  248), 
parks,  and  playgrounds  (§§  173,   174). 

167.  Administrative    Departments.  —  Most    of    the    real  Decentral- 
work  of  a  city  is  performed  through  numerous  administra-  ^^^f  mumci- 

1       -« *•  ^  1    T.       P^^  admin- 

tive   departments.^     Many  departments  are  managed   by  istration. 
appointed  boards  or  heads,  and  a  very  few,  as  the  pohce  and 
fire  departments,  have  both  boards  and  chiefs.     Two  dis- 

*  The'school  department  is  in  a  sense  distinct  from  the  rest  because  its  mem- 
bers are  usually  elected  and  have  unusual  powers  in  the  expenditure  of  public 
money. 


l82 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Centralized 
administra- 
tion. 


Civil  service 
in  cities. 


The  need  of 
non-partisan 
organi- 
zation. 


tinct  forms  of  administrative  organization  are  found  in 
American  cities,  (i)  The  older  or  decentralized  form,  at 
one  time  practically  universal,  leaves  the  departments  en- 
tirely independent  of  one  another.  There  may  be  forty  or 
fifty  departments  which  have  no  means  of  cooperating 
with  one  another  and  are  not  directly  responsible  to  either 
the  mayor  or  the  council. 

(2)  In  many  cities  there  are  four  or  five  grand  departments , 
each  of  which  includes  a  number  of  bureaus,  these  bureaus 
corresponding  to  the  disconnected  departments  in  the  de- 
centralized form.  By  this  means,  cooperation  and  the  fixing 
of  responsibility  are  secured.  In  the  commission  form  of 
government,  a  commissioner  usually  presides  over  each  of 
these  concentrated  departments.  Those  which  are  most 
commonly  arranged  are  Department  of  Public  Affairs,  De- 
partment of  Public  Safety,  Department  of  Public  Works, 
Department  of  Public  Finance,  and  Department  of  Mu- 
nicipal Utilities  or  Department  of  Parks  and  Public  Property. 

There  are  more  employees  in  these  administrative  de- 
partments than  would  at  first  be  thought  possible ;  Greater 
New  York,  for  instance,  has  seventy  thousand,  practically 
all  of  whom  are  under  civil  service  regulations.  As  most  of 
the  positions  can  be  filled  properly  only  by  persons  of  par- 
ticular skill,  the  methods  used  in  the  selection  of  employees 
are  of  the  first  importance.  Civil  service  rules  are  enforced 
in  practically  all  cities  of  the  three  states  of  Massachusetts, 
New  York,  and  Ohio,  but  except  in  cities  with  commission 
government  very  little  has  been  done  elsewhere  to  establish 
a  regular  civil  service  in  which  appointments  shall  be  made 
exclusively  on  the  ground  of  merit  or  removal  solely  for  in- 
competency. The  popular  interest  taken  in  this  subject 
should  lead  to  some  improvement,  without  which  good  gov- 
ernment is  impossible. 

168.  Municipal  Elections.  —  Since  the  work  of  the  city 
is  almost  purely  administrative,  it  is  necessary  that  partic- 
ular care  should  be  taken  in  the  election  of  those  chief 
executive   officials   by   whom   the   numerous   subordinates 


GENERAL  MUNICIPAL  PROBLEMS  183 

will  be  appointed.  Nowadays  it  is  customary  to  hold  city 
elections  at  a  time  when  no  state  or  national  contest  is  occur- 
ring.^ In  large  cities  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  there 
should  be  continuity  in  the  important  poUcies  undertaken 
by  the  city  government.  It  is  quite  as  necessary  that  there 
should  be  permanent  organization  of  citizen  movements  with 
definite  and  practical  programs,  because,  if  the  citizens  are 
disorganized,  party  politicians  or  unscrupulous  gangsters 
will  be  sure  to  seize  the  reins  of  power.  In  some  cities  citizen 
organizations  have  followed  the  plan  of  supporting  those 
candidates  of  the  two  parties  who  favor  the  citizen  program. 
In  this  way  they  have  secured  a  much  better  class  of  nomi- 
nations for  city  offices.  In  other  municipalities  the  citizens 
have  named  candidates  of  their  own  for  all  offices.  This 
has  forced  the  parties  which  participate  in  the  election  to 
nominate  excellent  candidates  in  competition. 

169.   Municipal  Finances.  —  Financial  questions  are  rela-  Relatively 
lively  more  important  in  cities  than  in  the  states  or  in  the  great  im- 
nation.     A  larger  proportion  of  municipal  duties  involve  the  ^bu^fit  ° 
payment  of  money  than  in  either  of  the  others,  the  per  capita  nance  in 
expenditures  of  American  cities  being  six  times  as  large  as  "^^^^' 
jthose  of  the  states  and  practically  double  those  of  the  nation. 
Because  taxes  are  high,  every  one  knows  that  city  govern- 
ments are  expensive.     Probably  less  is  wasted  to-day  than 
was  misused  in  former  years,  but  radical  reforms  are  still 
necessary  .2 

^  Until  the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  city  elections  were  held  almost 
always  at  the  same  time  as  state  and  congressional  elections.  As  a  consequence 
the  nominations  for  the  city  elections  were  of  a  distinctively  partisan  character, 
and  it  was  practically  impossible  to  select  candidates  on  their  merits.  In  conse- 
quence the  party  machine  (§  106)  dictated  the  appointment  of  practically  all 
subordinates  and  employees.  This  was  very  fine  for  the  party  organizations 
but  rather  hard  on  the  city  government. 

2  The  chief  source  of  municipal  revenue  is  the  general  property  tax  (§  154) 
levied  upon  all  real  estate  and  presumably  all  forms  of  personal  property.  This 
furnishes  about  one  half  of  the  total  income.  The  rest  is  secured  from  hcenses 
issued  to  Uquor  dealers  and  various  other  businesses,  fees  and  fines,  and  payments 
made  by  corporations  for  franchises,  privileges,  and  profits  on  municipal  utihties. 
Most  local  improvements  are  paid  for  by  means  of  special  assessments  and  do 
not  enter  into  strictly  municipal  finances. 


i84 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Financial 
needs  and 
reforms. 


With  the  large  amount  of  money  paid  for  the  school, 
poUce,  fire,  and  Hghting  departments,  there  is  need  of  good 
management  and  real  economy.  Many  of  our  cities  have 
not  even  a  proper  system  of  accounting,  although  some  of 
them  have  adopted  a  regular  budget  which  itemizes  in  a 
single  statement  all  receipts  and  expenditures,  and  have 
attempted  to  reform  their  finances  and  their  financial  methods. 


Congestion  in  Tenement  District,  Lower  New  York. 

Some  European  cities,  unlike  the  average  American  munici- 
pality, look  to  the  future,  secure  lands  needed  for  parks  and 
public  improvements  before  they  have  become  too  valuable, 
make  the  '^  unearned  increment "  (§  145)  pay  a  large  per 
cent  of  municipal  expenses,  and  in  other  ways  practice  a 
true,  far-sighted  economy.  ^ 


Congestion 
and  slums. 


Welfare  Problems 
170.   The  Housing  Problem.  —  The  area  of  most  American 
cities  seems  large  compared  with  that  of  European  cities, 

1  In  America  we  too  often  call  a  bond  election  instead  of  planning  carefully  in 
advance  to  secure  additional  revenues  which  will  make  unnecessary  our  enormous 


WELFARE  PROBLEMS 


i8s 


yet  the  housing  question  is  one  of  our  most  serious  problems. 
Because  our  transportation  faciUties  are  inadequate  (§  182) 
there  is  extreme  congestion  in  almost  every  one  of  our  large 
American  cities.     Since  great  numbers  of  European  immi- 
grants have  settled  in  almost  every  metropolis,  slums  have 
been  formed.     In  slum 
districts  many  exceed- 
ingly narrow  streets  are 
lined    with    high    and 
more  or  less  unsanitary 
tenements,  and  even  the 
back  yards  are  covered 
by  other  buildings.  The 
illustration  on  the  op- 
posite page  shows   the 
extent    to    which    con- 
gestion  has    developed 
in  lower  New  York. 

Many  years  ago  at- 
tacks were  made  upon 
the  old  style  tenement 
in  the  hope  of  securing 
tenement  reform}  In 
most  of  our  eastern 
cities    there    are    now 

laws  which  regulate  the  building  of  tenements  and  give  the  Modem 
tenants  a  fair  amount  of  light,  air,  and  sanitation.^     These  building  laws 

,      .  ,-  t  •     ^  '   A  j_  for  tene- 

regulations   are   not  enforced   as   strictly   as    might    seem  ments. 
desirable,  but  they  have   done   much  to  improve  housing 

municipal  debts.     It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  a  large  part  of  our 
debt  is  represented  by  investments. 

1  Some  philanthropists  erected  model  tenements  in  order  to  relieve  congestion 
in  the  worst  districts  and  give  improved  housing  conditions.  As  one  author 
states,  in  the  forty  years  preceding  igio  they  were  able  to  construct  in  New 
York  "model  tenements  or  apartments  for  only  eighteen  thousand  persons, 
while  more  than  a  milhon  and  a  quarter  persons  were  being  accommodated  in 
new-built  but  old-style  tenement  houses." 

2  The  tenement  regulations  prescribe  that  not  more  than  sixty-five  to  seventy- 
five  per  cent  of  the  ground  area  of  any  city  lot  shall  be  covered  by  buildings. 


A  Model  Tenement,  Lower  East  Side, 
New  York  City. 


i86 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Need  of  bet- 
ter building 


Our  city  fire 
departments. 


Need  of  city 
planning  for 
the  city  and 
its  futvure. 


conditions  in  our  great  cities  and  to  reduce  the  death  rate 
among  tenement  dwellers. 

171.  Fire  Protection.  —  One  form  of  the  housing  problem 
which  should  receive  far  more  attention  than  it  does  is  that 
of  protection  against  fire.  More  property  is  destroyed  by 
fire  than  by  all  other  agencies,  the  annual  direct  loss  from  fire 
in  the  United  States  being  two  hundred  and  fifty  million 
dollars,  and  the  annual  cost  of  insurance,  fire  departments, 
and  other  means  of  prevention  as  much  more.  In  almost 
all  large  cities  houses  are  built  close  together,  and  in  the 
largest  cities,  where  land  is  particularly  valuable,  they  are 
contiguous.  A  fire  starting  in  one  will  sweep  through  a 
block  easily  if  there  are  lax  building  laws  or  poor  enforce- 
ment of  good  ]aws.^ 

If  our  buildings  were  better,  we  should  need  to  place  less 
dependence  upon  our  fire  departments,  which  are  rather 
inadequate  for  the  need.  However,  our  best  city  govern- 
ments now  have  improved  electrical  devices  for  sending  in 
fire  alarms,  and  their  fire  departments  include  the  latest 
equipment  in  chemical  engines,  modern  fire  hose-cart  trucks, 
extension  cranes,  and  other  fire-fighting  apparatus.  Heroes 
are  common  among  the  men  who  protect  our  cities  from 
fire. 

172.  City  Planning.  —  American  cities  have  not  been  in 
the  habit  of  adopting  policies  except  for  immediate  needs, 
nor  have  they  usually  planned  the  arrangement  of  streets, 
boulevards,  and  civic  centers  with  much  foresight  or  care. 
The  term  "  city  planning  "  is  ordinarily  applied  to  the  physi- 
cal improvement  of  a  city,  but  there  is  quite  as  much  need 


They  control  the  height  of  the  buildings,  the  width  of  air  shafts,  and  the  lighting 
of  rooms.  No  persons  are  allowed  to  live  in  a  room  which  does  not  have  a  win- 
dow opening  on  a  street  or  a  court.  The  old-style  faucet  tap  which  was  used  in 
common  by  all  families  on  a  single  floor  is  now  taboo ;  each  family  in  a  new  tene- 
ment has  its  own  supply  of  water  and  possibly  its  own  bathroom. 

1  It  is  customary  to  divide  cities  into  different  fire  districts.  In  the  business 
center  of  localities  where  the  buildings  are  contiguous,  frame  construction  is 
not  permitted,  although  few  cities  have  building  and  fire  ordinances  which  re- 
quire as  high  degree  of  fire  proofing  as  would  be  desirable.  Permits  are  required 
before  any  buildings  are  erected  or  additions  made. 


WELFARE  PROBLEMS 


187 


of  devising  satisfactory  and  comprehensive  policies  for 
future  needs  in  finance,  administration,  utilities,  and  welfare 
work  as  there  is  for  the  proper  laying  out  of  squares,  parks, 
and  public  highways. 

One  American  city,  Washington,  was  platted  by  engineers  Lack  of  city 
on  a  plan  which  was  truly  artistic  as  well  as  useful.    In  planning, 
most  cities  even  the  laying  out  of  streets  has  been  left  largely 
to  real  estate  operators  or  speculators.     That  is,  the  street 
planning  has  been  arranged  on  private  initiative.^ 

In  some  communities  city  planning  refers  exclusively  to 
a  scheme  for  a  civic  center.    Since  there  are  numerous  public 


Proposed  Civic  Center,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

buildings  in  all  large  cities,  it  is  desirable  that  they  should  Civic  cen- 
be  grouped  according  to  some  artistic  and  satisfactory  plan.  ters,parksy9 
Strangely  enough  very  few  American  cities  have  such  a  better  street 
civic  center  and,  even  more  strange,  very  few  cities  are  arrange- 
really  planning  such  a  center.     Besides  the  civic  center,  °^^^^^' 

1  The  result  is  that  often  we  have  no  scheme  at  all.  In  some  cities  a  street 
will  be  found  for  a  couple  of  blocks,  an  interval  of  several  blocks  will  follow  in 
which  no  street  has  been  cut  through,  and  then  the  street  will  be  continued 
farther  on,  this  happening  several  times  possibly  with  the  same  street.  A  few 
American  cities,  Indianapolis  for  one,  have  boulevards  cutting  across  the  conven- 
tional rectangvilar  blocks  which  are  characteristic  of  a  fairly  well-planned 
American  city. 


i88 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Large  city 
parks. 


city  planning  should  include  some  definite  and  comprehen- 
sive scheme  for  parks  and  boulevards.  Undoubtedly  in  the 
future  we  shall  give  all  of  these  subjects  far  more  thought 
and  attention  than  we  have  in  the  past. 

173.  City  Parks.  —  One  phase  of  city  planning  which  is  of 
particular  value,  not  only  in  making  the  city  beautiful,  but 
because  of  the  opportunity  which  it  offers  for  recreation 
and  for  preserving  the  health  of  citizens,  is  the  city  park. 
Many  cities  used  sufficient  foresight  to  secure  large  parks  in 


Revere  Beach  (Municipal)  Park  and  Bath  Houses,  Boston. 


Small  parks 
and  park  at- 
tractions. 


their  suburbs  while  land  was  inexpensive.  When  the  cities 
grew,  these  parks  were  entirely  surrounded  by  homes.  For 
example,  the  original  cost  of  the  land  for  Central  Park  in 
New  York  City,  covering  one  and  one  third  square  miles, 
was  less  than  seven  million  dollars. 

These  cities  and  others  have,  however,  been  forced  to 
create  parks  in  more  congested  districts  at  considerable 
expense,  for  they  have  needed  breathing  spaces  which  were 
accessible  to  the  people  of  the  tenements.  Large  sums  have 
been  spent  in  beautifying  these  public  garden  spots,  making 
them   attractive   with    drives,   lakes,    tennis    courts,   ball 


WELFARE  PROBLEMS 


189 


grounds,  zoological  gardens,  and  numerous  forms  of  free 
amusements.  In  a  very  few  cases  the  parks  have  been 
erected  into  a  system,  giving  each  section  of  the  city  at  least 
one  park  and  connecting  by  boulevards  a  series  oi  well- 
located  parks.  ^ 

174.   Municipal  Playgrounds.  —  Still  more  important  are  Variety  and 
the  children's  playgrounds  which  have  been  estabhshed  as  usesofpubhc 

,  ,.  .,  T-  T  playgrounds. 

breathing  spaces  m  the  tenement  districts.     In  our  larger 


A  School  Playground,  Chicago,  III. 


cities  playgrounds  have  been  created  on  pleasure  wharves, 
in  roof  gardens  on  the  tops  of  school  buildings,  and  in  squares 
where  rookeries  have  been  demolished.  For  the  children  of 
the  poor  they  have  replaced  to  some  extent  the  old  play- 

1  A  comparatively  satisfactory  system  is  the  metropolitan  park  system  of 
Boston  which  has  been  organized  into  a  system  not  only  by  care  in  the  selection 
of  park  sites,  but  by  the  series  of  boulevards  by  which  the  parks  have  been  con- 
nected. Only  a  few  American  cities  have  any  building  regulations  which  give 
good  sky  lines  to  the  buildings  along  new  streets.  If  we  compare,  for  example, 
the  buildings  on  a  Paris  boulevard  with  the  sky  line  of  the  buildings  in  almost 
any  American  block,  we  shall  be  impressed  at  once  with  the  plan  by  which  the 
Paris  buildings  have  been  erected. 


IQO 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Social  ad- 
vantages of 
parks  and 
playgrounds. 


Reform  of 
some  old 
defects. 


Importance 
of  adminis- 
tration in 
municipal 
government. 


Why  Ameri- 
can ideas  of 
liberty  and 
government 
interfere 
with  the  ad- 
ministration 
of  laws. 


grounds  of  dirty  streets  and  dark  alleys;  they  give  room 
for  sunshine,  spontaneous  play,  and  healthful  sports.  With 
the  public  swimming  pools  and  bath  houses,  their  influence 
for  health  and  cleanliness  remakes  many  lives.  Band 
concerts  and  other  forms  of  amusement  on  Sundays  and 
evenings  attract  large  multitudes  of  adults,  for  whom  inno- 
cent amusement  is  as  .necessary  as  it  is  for  children.  To 
the  multitudes  whose  days  are  spent  in  grinding  toil,  whose 
homes  offer  little  or  no  attraction,  whose  vacations  come  as 
periods  of  enforced  idleness  when  times  are  hard,  the  ever- 
increasing  number  of  parks  and  playgrounds  are  an  inesti- 
mable blessing. 

175.  Failures  of  American  Cities.  —  More  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago  the  great  English  critic  of  American  politi- 
cal institutions,  the  Honorable  James  Bryce,  stated  that 
municipal  administration  was  the  most  conspicuous  failure 
in  American  government.  Great  improvements  have  been 
made  in  the  last  quarter  century,  but,  as  stated  above,  we 
are  still  in  the  experimental  period.  We  are  making  prog- 
ress, but  we  have  not  solved  our  problems. 

The  reason  why  municipal  government  is  less  satisfactory 
than  other  forms  of  American  government  is  perfectly  plain; 
First  of  all,  our  cities  are  supposed  to  enforce,  within  their 
localities,  most  of  the  state  laws.  We  shall  notice  later  that 
one  of  the  most  distinctive  characteristics  of  American  gov- 
ernment is  legislative  centralization  and  administrative  decen- 
tralization (§  185).  Secondly,  they  must  administer  all 
ordinances  and  rules  made  by  the  city  authorities  for  the 
conduct  of  purely  local  affairs.  Thirdly,  they  must  super- 
vise or  own  and  manage  all  public  utilities.  All  these  prob- 
lems are  administrative. 

The  administration  of  law  is  hy  far  the  weakest  part  of  our 
American  system  of  government.  No  people  has  equaled  us 
in  comprehending  and  applying  the  general  principles  of 
government ;  no  other  nation  has  made  so  great  a  success  of 
self-government  in  its  varied  forms.  Yet  almost  all  other 
civilized  peoples  administer  their  laws  more  carefully  and 


WELFARE  PROBLEMS  191 

thoroughly  than  we  are  willing  to  do.  Poor  administration 
of  laws  is  probably  the  price  which  we  pay  for  liberty^  as  we 
have  wished  to  interpret  that  phrase.  But  the  price  is  a 
high  one  when  applied  to  municipal  government,  which 
consists  of  little  more  than  administration. 

176.  Municipal  Reform.  —  If,  therefore,  a  city,  expects  to  Defects 
remedy  what  are  really  characteristics  of  American  govern-  ^^'i^  '^^f 

T  ,.  -  ^  --T  ••  must  not  ex 

ment  by  adopting  a  new  form  of  municipal  organization  or  pect  to 

by  awakening   a   greater  public  interest,  it  is  very  much  eradicate, 
mistaken.     We  are  deeply  attached  to  our  ideas  of  govern- 
ment and  of  liberty,  and  the  city  happens  to  be  the  scape- 
goat. 

If  we  cannot  adopt  new  principles  of  government  for  the  Defects  we 
sake  of  our  cities,  we  can  at  least  remedy  some  exceedingly  ^f.^ .    ^ 

TTT  -i  '^^^  i  1  T  eliminate. 

serious  evils.  We  can  be  willing  not  only  to  adopt  such  a 
form  of  city  government  as  will  be  best  suited  to  the  needs 
of  each  municipality,  but  we  can  also  be  ready  and  willing 
to  give  more  attention  to  municipal  affairs.  We  can  elect 
officials  who  thoroughly  understand  their  business.  We 
can  demand  a  much  more  complete  enforcement  of  law 
and  a  much  better  supervision  of  municipal  activities  than 
we  have  had  in  the  past. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  enumerate  the  specific  conditions  and  The  past  and 
difficulties  which  have  made  good  government  impossible  ^^^  future. 
in  cities.      Most   of   these,  graft,  the  ward  politician,  un- 
scientific financiering,  and  disregard  for  the  welfare  of  the 
city,  are  gradually  disappearing.     ''  The  future  is  bright  with 
promise." 

Municipal  Public  Utilities 

177.  The    Problem.  —  Possibly    the    greatest    problem  ShaU  pubUc 
confronting  our  city  governments  is  the  question  of  public  utilities  be 
utilities.     There  are  five  public  utilities  which  are  needed  the  city? 
in  every  city;    these  are  water,  gas,    electricity,   transporta- 
tion, and  telephone  service.     In  cities  the  householders  can- 
not furnish  their  own  supply  of  water,  and  most  of  them 

must  depend  upon  others  for  light,  transportation,  and  tele- 


192 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Reasons  why 
public  utili- 
ties are  nat- 
ural monop- 
olies. 


Need  of  pro- 
tecting cer- 
tain public 
interests. 


phone  service.  Among  a  municipality's  necessary  duties  is 
that  of  deciding  whether  these  utihties  shall  be  provided  by 
private  corporations  or  by  the  city,  in  other  words,  whether 
the  city  shall  have  municipal  ownership  of  any  or  all  of  these 
utilities. 

These  are  not  only  public  utilities  because  they  furnish 
necessaries  which  cannot  be  provided  by  each  citizen  for 
himself,  but  because  they  are  natural  monopolies  for  several 
reasons.  First,  duplication  of  plants  is  expensive.  It  is 
much  better  to  have  on  each  street  a  single  water  main 
than  to  have  two  or  three  companies  competing  over  the 
same  area.  One  public  service  corporation  can  give  better 
service  than  many.  Secondly,  it  is  more  convenient  and 
satisfactory  to  have  one  transportation  company  or  tele- 
phone company  (§  183)  than  to  have  two  or  more  com- 
panies. We  have  discovered  from  experience  that  compe- 
tition between  public  utility  corporations  is  absurd  in  theory 
and  a  failure  in  practice.  Thirdly,  these  are  monopolies 
because  the  service  in  most  cases  cannot  be  separated  from 
the  plant  through  which  it  is  provided,  e.g.,  we  must  get  gas 
from  pipes  which  connect  us  with  the  gas  manufacturing 
plant.  It  is,  therefore,  wisest  to  accept  the  fact  that  public 
utilities  are  monopolies  and  to  treat  them  accordingly. 

178.  Conditions  Affecting  the  Problem.  —  There  are 
three  reasons  why  our  cities  should  find  the  best  means 
of  dealing  with  this  question  of  public  utilities,  (i)  Our 
streets  are' public  property  and  should  be  used  solely  for  the 
good  of  the  people.  If  we  give  individuals  or  corporations 
permission  to  lay  tracks  or  water  pipes,  or  to  erect  poles 
which  carry  electric  wires,  the  benefits  accruing  to  the 
citizens  should  be  in  proportion  to  the  privilege  granted. 
(2)  The  cities  should  receive  an  income  for  the  use  of  the 
streets  for  these  purposes,  whether  the  business  is  conducted 
by  the  city  or  by  private  parties.  (3)  The  citizens  should 
have  the  benefit  of  good  service  at  reasonable  rates. 

In  brief  the  problem  is  this :  by  what  means  is  it  possible 
for  the  city  to  secure  for  its  people  the  best  service  from  every 


MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  193 

point  of  view?    If  it  is  possible  to  have  good  management  Different 
of  a  municipal  utility,  then  municipal  ownership  would  seem  ^^^^  ^°^^  ^^^ 
to  be  most  desirable.     If,  on  the  contrary,  a  system  of  conditions, 
public  regulation  by  the  municipal  authorities  has  been  worked 
out  rather  fully,  private  ownership   is  stripped  of  many 
disadvantages.  1 

179.   The   Question  of  Franchises.  —  If  a  public  utility  Value  of 
is  privately  owned,  the  private  corporation  must  secure  a  gr^nt^^to 
franchise  from   the  city  council   or   the  state   legislature,  private  cor- 
nowadays  usually  the  former.     The  conditions  under  which  porations. 
a  franchise  may  be  granted  by  a  city  are  often  stated  in  gen- 
eral terms  in  the  state  law  and  further  described  in  the  city 
charter.    Years  ago  it  was  customary  to  give  franchises  for 
long  periods  without  requiring  anything  in  return.^ 

Modern  franchises  are  not  as  likely  to  be  secured  through  Methods  of 
the  bribery  of   councilmen   or  legislatures,  especially  if  a  ^^^^^^^   1 
referendary  vote  may  be  taken  before  the  franchise  is  granted,   uc  utility 
It  is  customary  in  larger  cities   either  to  sell  franchises  to  franchises. 
the  highest  bidder  or  to  prescribe  that  a  minimum  per 
cent  of  the  annual  gross  receipts  from  the  operation  of  the 
utility  shall  be  paid  into   the  city   treasury.     Franchises 
are  no  longer  perpetual,  but  run  now  for  a  definite  number  of 
years,  such  as  twenty,  twenty-five,  or  thirty,  or  they  are 
"  indeterminate."  ^    If   the   granting   of   franchises  is   left 
solely  with  the  city  council  or  commission,  the  opportunities 
for  bribery,  and  the  temptation  for  the  present  administra- 
tion to  sacrifice  the  city's  future  for  temporary  gain  to  it- 
self, form  an  appalling  menace  to  good  city  government. 

1  Wherever  there  are  state  public  utiUty  commissions  well  organized  and 
really  protecting  pubUc  interests,  regulation  has  been  adequate.  In  consequence 
municipal  ownership  has  made  little  progress  in  those  states. 

^  It  is  estimated  that  in  some  of  our  larger  cities  only  one  quarter  of  the  pres- 
ent value  of  pubUc  utility  corporations  consists  in  the  actual  value  of  their  plants, 
rolling  stock,  and  other  property.  That  is,  three  quarters  of  the  present  market 
value  of  their  stocks  and  securities  consist  of  franchises  granted  to  them  for 
little  or  nothing  by  our  government,  and  represented  in  their  stock  by  "water." 

^  If  a  franchise  is  indeterminate,  no  time  limit  is  prescribed  but  a  definite 
price  for  the  property  is  fixed,  or  a  method  of  determining  the  price  arranged, 
with  the  right  of  the  city  to  take  over  the  property  on  payment  of  a  reasonable 
amount. 


194 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Municipal 
ownership 
due  to  large 
original  costs 
but  small  ex- 
pense of 
operation. 


Necessity  for 
a  pure  and 
abimdant 
supply  of 
water. 


Advantages 
of  public 
over  private 
ownership. 


180.  The  Water  Supply. — All  but  three  or  four  of  our 
larger  cities  now  have  municipal  ownership  of  water  or  have 
made  arrangements  for  public  ownership  of  the  present 
private  plants.  The  business  of  supplying  water  is  different 
from  that  of  most  other  pubUc  utilities  in  this  respect,  that 
the  cost  of  operating  a  water  plant  is  relatively  very  small;  and 
we  should  notice  that  it  is  in  connection  with  operation  that 
municipal  ownership  has  been  most  defective.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  initial  cost  of  a  water  system  is  usually  quite 
high} 

The  real  reason  for  municipal  ownership  of  municipal 
water  supply  is  not  economic  but  social.  Water  is  far  more 
a  public  necessity  than  even  light,  transportation,  or  tele- 
phone service.  The  ordinary  water  supply  is  used  for 
drinking  by  a  very  large  percentage  of  the  city  dwellers. 
Every  household  needs  an  additional  supply  and  every  house 
with  grounds  uses  a  large  amount.  It  is,  therefore,  neces- 
sary and  desirable  that  the  water  should  be  not  only  pure, 
cheap,  and  abundant,  but  that  it  should  be  carried  to  all 
households  within  the  city  limits. 

Since  epidemics  of  typhoid  and  some  other  diseases  have 
been  traceable  to  impure  supplies  of  water,  cities  are  willing 
to  go  great  distances  to  get  pure  water  ^  and  to  incur  con- 
siderable expense  in  installing  filtering  plants,  whereas  pri- 
vate companies,  interested  in  profits,  would  do  neither. 
Moreover,  many  cities  have  been  farsighted  and  have 
secured  sources  which  will  give  abundant  water  in  decades 
to  come,  whereas  private  companies  were  far  more  content 
to  look  after  only  the  immediate  needs  of  the  community. 
Last  but  not  least,  municipal  ownership  and  management 
has  not  only  reduced  the  price  of  water  in  most  commu- 
nities, but  has  accumulated  a  surplus  for  improvement  and 

^  It  is  necessary  to  go  long  distances  in  order  to  find  a  lake  or  series  of  streams 
from  which  a  supply  of  pure  water  can  be  obtained.  The  cost  of  getting  this 
water  supply  and  its  watersheds,  the  great  expense  of  constructing  conduits  for 
a  long  distance,  of  building  large  reservoirs,  and  of  laying  a  network  of  pipes 
along  the  streets  makes  the  original  outlay  very  heavy. 

^  For  example,  Los  Angeles,  California,  has  gone  more  than  two  hundred  miles. 


MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  195 

extension  of  service  which  has  reheved  the  city  of  continued 
expense.  Municipal  ownership  of  water  is  one  of  the  great 
successes  of  American  cities. 

181.  Gas   and   Electricity.  —  A   fairly   large   number   of  Municipal 
cities  have  undertaken  to  furnish  their  own  electric  light  ^^^^^nc 
for  streets  and  public  buildings.     Some  of  these  also  furnish 
electricity  to  householders.     In  a  few  cases  the  municipal 

plants  have  a  monopoly  of  the  lighting  privileges  within  the 
city,  i.e.  the  householders  must  obtain  their  lights  from  the 
municipal  plant,  as  no  other  has  been  established.  Mu- 
nicipal plants  have  reduced  the  high  rates  formerly  charged 
by  the  private  companies,  whose  stock  had  undoubtedly  been 
watered  extensively.  The  success  of  these  undertakings  in 
small  and  medium-sized  cities  seems  to  indicate  that  mu- 
nicipal ownership  of  electric  lighting  will  be  still  more  com- 
mon in  the  future. 

Before  electricity  became  the  common  means  of  lighting,  Unfortunate 
a  few  cities  provided  for  pubhc  gas  plants.     These  were  not  °^^  expen- 
well  managed,  as  in  those  days  municipal  government  was  municipal 
at  its  worst.     Since  gas  is  used  more  commonly  nowadays  gas  plants, 
for  heating  than  for  lighting,  we  need  not  go  into  the  rather 
interesting,   if  somewhat  scandalous,  history  of  municipal 
gas  plants  which  were  publicly  managed  or  were  rented  to 
others. 

182.  Transportation   Facilities.  —  As   the  population   in  Seriousness 
the  centers  of  American  cities  has  become  congested,  it  has  ^^  the  trans- 
been  necessary  to  develop  transportation  to  the  suburbs,  problem? 
Although  transportation  systems  have  grown  rather  rapidly, 

they  have  failed  to  keep  up  with  the  needs  of  urban  growth. 
The  problem  of  transportation  supervision  or  control  has 
been  especially  serious  in  localities  such  as  the  borough  of 
Manhattan,  New  York  City,  in  which  the  growth  is  restricted 
to  a  single  direction. 

Street  railways  have  been,  in  a  sense,  the  most  difficult  Defects  of 
problem    connected    with    public    utiHties.     Since    streets  Pfj^fjf 
desirable  for  car  tracks  are  limited  in  number,  private  cor- 
porations have  secured,  often  through  bribery,  advantages 


service. 


196 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


transporta 
tion. 


which  should  have 
been  retained  by 
the  public.  The 
worst  abuses  of  pri- 
vate ownership  in 
connection  with 
pubhc  utilities  has 
been  shown  in  the 
misuse  by  street  car 
companies  of  im- 
portant thorough- 
MuNiciPAL  Railway  Car,  Seattle.  fares    and    in    the 

inexcusably  poor  service  which  has  been  rendered  the  public 

by  private  transportation  companies. ^ 
Importance         With  the  advent 
of  better  reg-   Qf  the  jitney  bus  2 

ulation  of  1  ^ 

to  supplement  the 
street  railway,  pub- 
lic ownership  ^  of 
transportation  fa- 
cilities has  become 
less  desirable  than 
formerly  in  the  less 
congested  cities. 
In  consequence, 
there  is  at  present  A  Jitney  Bus 

1  Two  ways  have  been  suggested  of  avoiding  these  evils.  The  first  is  to  have 
the  cities  own  and  manage  the  street  railways ;  the  second,  to  grant,  for  a  short 
term  of  years,  franchises  which  give  the  cities  control  over  the  private  companies, 
and  which  arrange  to  have  a  percentage  of  the  profits  paid  into  the  city  treas- 
uries. The  second  method  seems  to  be  more  popular  and  the  one  more  likely 
to  be  universally  adopted. 

2  In  many  western  cities  a  remedy  for  poor  service  has  been  sought  in  the 
jitney  bus,  an  ordinary  or  specially  arranged  automobile  in  which  passengers 
are  carried.  The  jitney  bus  runs  in  competition  with  the  street  railways,  and, 
not  being  subject  to  regulation  in  the  same  way  as  the  street  railway,  has  com- 
plicated the  municipal  problem  quite  as  much  as  it  has  relieved  congestion  of 
transportation.  Probably  in  time  the  jitney  bus  will  be  used  to  supplement 
the  street  railway,  particidarly  on  streets  and  in  localities  not  reached  by  systems 
of  car  tracks. 

'  In  only  two  cities,  Seattle  and  San  Francisco,  has  public  ownership  of  street 


MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  197 

a  demand  for  better  regulation  than  in  the  past.  There  is 
no  reason  why,  if  street  railway  franchises  are  drawn  properly, 
the  private  transportation  companies  should  not  be  forced 
to  live  up  to  the  franchise  requirements  and  give  the  good 
service  which  the  franchise  requires.  The  present  street 
railway  problem  in  most  American  cities  is  preeminently  a 
problem  of  supervision  and  regulation. 

183.  Telephone   Service,  —  Nowadays  a  telephone  is  a  The  need  of 
necessity  for  all  business  men  and  many  other  residents  °?^  ^^^^" 

.  ,  .  .  ,  1     •       T  /-x    T        M       pnone  com- 

within  a  city,  and  to  many  people  in  the  country.  Ordinarily  pany  in  each 
in  each  city  there  was  at  first  but  one  telephone  company,  city. 
This  gave  such  poor  service  and  charged  such  high  rates 
that,  following  the  usual  American  method,  a  competitive 
system  was  started.  Experience  of  many  years  with  two 
competing  telephone  companies  has  shown  us  that  a  tele- 
phone system,  as  well  as  those  for  water  and  transportation, 
can  give  the  best  results  if  it  is  a  monopoly. 

Since  telephone  systems  even  more  than  transportation  Possibility 
companies  and  water  systems  are  interurban  in  character,  °^  combma- 

•       11  r  in  1  1  ^  ^  ii-        ^lOn  Undct 

It  has  been  found  best  to  regulate  them  through  state  public  state  public 

utility  commissions.     If  separate  telephone  companies   are  utility  com- 

allowed  or  forced  to  combine  under  proper  regulation  and  "^^^°^- 
control,  there  is  a  real  public  gain,  if  the  new  monopoly  is  held 
by  the  state  commission  to  a  high  standard  of  efficiency  and 
good  service. 

184.  Municipal    Ownership    vs.    Private     Ownership.  —  General 
Whether  the  best  results  can  be  obtained  by  private  or  conditions 
public  ownership  of  public  utilities  depends  largely  upon  public  or 
circumstances.     When  the  original  cost  of  the  undertaking  private  own- 
is  large  in  proportion  to  the  annual  expense  of  operation,  ^^^  ^' 

as  in  a  system  of  waterworks,  the  advantages  of  public 
ownership  are  especially  evident.  On  the  contrary,  any 
public  utility  in  which  large  numbers  of  men  are  employed 
is  apt  to  be  mismanaged  by  municipalities  which  do  not  use 

car  lines  been  attempted  at  all  as  a  remedy.  Each  of  these  cities  owns  a  few 
miles  of  track  and  has  tried  a  municipal  railway.  Boston  owns  its  own  subway. 
New  York  owns  subways,  but  has  rented  them  to  private  corporations. 


198  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

efficient  methods  in  selecting  and  maintaining  a  group  of  em^ 
ployees. 
Why  graft  The  chief  criticism  of  pubHc  ownership,  that  it  will  be 

has  little  to     inefficient  because  graft  and  other  corrupting  forces  are  at 
problem.  work,  is  not  a  criticism  of  municipal  ownership  but  of  mu- 

nicipal administration.  There  is  little  more  danger  from 
graft  and  inefficiency  in  the  management  of  public  utilities 
than  there  is  from  the  corrupt  granting  of  valuable  franchises. 
If  graft  exists,  no  system  of  handhng  public  utilities  is  good. 


Kiosks  on  Common,  Boston  (Municipal)  Subway. 

If  inefficiency  and  lack  of  public  interest  persist,  the  public 
will  be  the  loser,  whichever  method  is  adopted. 
Disadvan-  The  chief  disadvantages  of  private  ownership  may  be 

tages  of  pn-     summarized  as  follows :   desire  for  profit  rather  than  good 

vate  owner-  ...  .iir.  •!•  1  • 

ship.  public  service,  lack  of  interest  in  keeping  up  the  service,  un- 

willingness to  extend  service  into  districts  which  will  not  be 
immediately  profitable,  use  of  bribery  and  wholesale  graft 
to  obtain  franchises,  need  of  maintaining  control  of  the  city 
government  in  order  to  prevent  the  city  from  regulating  the 
utility,  the  high  charges  which  are  paid  as  interest  on  watered 
stock,  and  the  inefficiency  of  public  regulation. 

The  chief  disadvantages  of  pubhc  ownership  are  these: 
poor  management  because  the  city  is  not  a  wise  selecter 


MUNICIPAL  PUBLIC  UTILITIES 


199 


of  employees,  constant  modification  in  the  policy  through  Disadvan- 
political  changes,  danger  that  poHtics  will  be  controlled  by  ^^^^!  °^ 
business,  danger  that  the  city  may  not  use  good  judgment  in  ownership 
planning  work  and  therefore  may  call  upon  taxpayers  to 
supply  deficiencies  and  government  losses. 

Certainly  municipal  ownership  has  not  progressed  as  The  outlook 
much  in  America  as  in  Europe.^  Eminent  European  inves- 
tigators have  urged  that,  until  American  cities  are  better 
governed,  they  should  leave  most  public  utiUties  in  private 
hands.  If  better  systems  of  control  remove  the  worst  evils 
of  private  ownership,  we  can  combine  the  greatest  advan- 
tages of  private  initiative  and  enterprise  with  a  farsighted 
system  of  pubHc  supervision. 

General  References 

Hart,  Actual  Government,  180-214. 

Goodnow,  City  Government  in  the  United  States. 

Wilcox,  A  Study  of  City  Government. 

Beard,  American  City  Government. 

BruSre,  The  New  City  Government. 

Rowe,  Problems  of  City  Government. 

Howe,  The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems. 

Zueblin,  American  Municipal  Progress. 

Munro,  Government  of  American  Cities. 

Munro,  Principles  and  Metliods  of  Municipal  Administration. 

Hamilton,  Dethronement  of  the  City  Boss. 

1  Of  the  fifty  largest  cities  in  Great  Britain  and  Germany  the  following  have 
entered  on  the  policy  of  municipal  ownership : 


In  Great 
Britain 

Own  Tht.tr  Own 

In  Germany 

30 

Water  Supply 

48 

21 

Gas  Supply 

50 

44 

Electricity  Supply 

42 

42 

Tramways 

23 

49 

Baths 

48 

44 

Markets 

SO 

23 

Slaughterhouses 

43 

—  Howe.  The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,  p.  176. 


200  THE  NEW   CIVICS 

Bradford,  Commission  Government  in  American  Cities. 
Woodniff,  City  Government  by  Commission. 
King,  Regulation  of  Municipal  Utilities. 
Whitten,  Public  Service  Corporations. 

Fairlie,  Municipal  Administration  and  Essays  in  Municipal  Adminis- 
tration. 

Koester,  Modern  City  Planning  and  Maintenance. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  Nov.  191 1  and  May  191 2. 

Topics 

The  City  and  the  State  :  Goodnow,  Municipal  Problems,  63-89 ; 
Howe,  The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,  66-85;  Beard,  American  City 
Government,  $1-$  I ;  Munro,  Government  of  American  Cities,  53-79;  Good- 
now, Municipal  Home  Rule  (IV-V) . 

Social  Structure  of  the  City  :  Beard,  American  City  Government, 
3-30;  Munro,  Government  of  American  Cities,  2g-$  2;  Howe,  T lie  Modern 
City  and  Its  Problems,  34-65. 

The  Problem  of  Franchises  :  Beard,  American  City  Government, 
190-217;  Howe,  The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,  149-164;  Bowker, 
R.  R.,  in  Atlantic  Monthly,  88  (1901),  463-482;  King,  Regulation  of 
Municipal  Utilities,  75-98 ;   Whitten,  Public  Service  Corporations. 

Commission  Government:  Mtinro,  Government  of  American  Cities, 
294-320 ;  Hamilton,  Dethronement  of  the  City  Boss,  9-25,  169-181 ;  Brad- 
ford, Commission  Government  in  Cities,  127-146,  181-213,  291-306; 
Woodruflf,  City  Government  by  Commission,  1-165 ;  Bruere,  The  New 
City  Government,  16-99;  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  Nov.  191 1. 

Municipal  Control  of  Public  Utilities  :  Zueblin,  American  Mu- 
nicipal Progress,  30-54,  87-94, 359-375  ;  Meyer,  B.  H.,  in  Political  Science 
Review,  5  (191 1),  374-393;  Maltbie,  M.  R.,  in  Annals  of  the  American 
Academy,  37  (1911),  170-190;  Kennedy,  J.  S.,  in  Forum,  48  (1912), 
584-595;  Bruere,  H.,  in  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  31  (1908), 
535-551;  ^mg,  Regulation  of  Municipal  Utilities. 

Studies 

1.  The  city  charter.  Howe,  The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,  86- 
96;  Bruere,  Nevo  City  Government,  361-375. 

2.  New  standards  of  city  government.  Bruere,  The  Nevo  City 
Government,  1-15. 

3.  The  city  council.  Munro,  Government  of  American  Cities,  180- 
206. 

4.  The  mayor.     Munro,  Government  of  American  Cities,  207-236. 

5.  New  York  municipal  problems.  Bruere,  H.,  in  Review  of  Reviews, 
48  (i9i3)»  465-471. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  20I 

6.  Selection  and  training  of  administrators.     Bruere,  The  New  City 
Government,  335-360. 

7.  Budget  making.     Howe,  The  Modern  City  and  Its  Problems,  $22- 

345. 

8.  Raising  and  spending  the  city's  money.     Beard,  American  City 
Government,  129-157. 

9.  City  planning  in  general.     Zueblin,  American  Municipal  Progress , 
326-358. 

10.  City  planning  in  Seattle.  Robinson,  C.  N.,  in  Architectural 
Record,  31  (1912),  164-170. 

11.  Progress  of  good  housing.  Craiger,  S.  M.,  Review  of  Reviews, 
48  (1913),  577-586. 

12.  Fire  departments  and  their  work.  Zueblin,  American  Municipal 
Progress,  130-136. 

13.  The  streets  of  the  city.  Beard,  American  Ctty  Government,  242- 
260. 

14.  Traffic  regulations.  Woods,  A.,  in  World's  Work,  31  (1916), 
621-632. 

15.  Chicago  recreation  problem.  Richards,  J.  R.,  in  American  City, 
13  (1915),  468-485. 

16.  Architecture  in  public  parks.  Burnap,  G.,  in  American  City,  13 
(1915),  12-19,  185-192. 

17.  Improvement  of  inland  water  fronts.  Smith,  F.  A.  C,  in  Ameri- 
can City,  12  (1915),  291-298. 

18.  Tenement  house  reform.  Besiid,  American  City  Government,  287- 
310. 

19.  The  water  supply  of  cities.  Munro,  Principles  and  Methods  of 
Municipal  Administration,  122—166. 

20.  The  jitney  bus.     King,  C.  L.,  in  American  City,  12  (1915),  480- 

489. 

21.  Municipal  railway  regulation.  Zueblin,  American  Municipal 
Progress,  30-54- 

22.  Pubhc  bath  houses  and  swimming  pools.  Gearhard,  W.  P.,  in 
American  City,  11  (1914),  357-367. 

23.  Efficiency  in  city  government.  BruSre,  H.,  in  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy,  41  (1912),  1-22;  Munro,  Principles  and  Methods  of 
Municipal  Administration,  1—29. 

24.  The  city's  wastes.  Zueblin,  American  Municipal  Progress,  73- 
86. 

25.  Conditions  and  methods  of  social  progress  in  American  cities. 
Pollock  and  Morgan,  Modern  Cities,  348-376. 

26.  Municipal  reform.  Munro,  Government  of  American  Cities,  358- 
385. 


202  THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Questions 

1.  What  was  the  population  of  this  city,  according  to  the  latest 
census?  What  was  the  percentage  of  growth  during  the  previous 
decade?    What  is  the  area  of  the  city? 

2.  What  date  does  the  present  charter  bear?  Was  it  given  to  the 
city  by  the  state  legislature?    How  may  it  be  amended? 

3.  WTiat  form  of  city  government  have  we  at  present?  How  long 
have  we  had  it  ?    To  what  extent  is  it  satisfactory  ? 

4.  For  mayor  and  councilmen  or  commissioners  :  give  term  of  ofl&ce, 
method  of  selection,  powers  as  individuals  or  as  a  body. 

5.  Name  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  each  form  of  municipal 
government :  (i)  old  style  mayor  and  council,  (2)  centralized  mayor 
and  council,  (3)  commission,  (4)  city  manager. 

6.  What  other  officials  and  what  boards  are  elected  by  the  voters? 
How  is  the  police  board  chosen?  the  board  of  health?  Have  we  a 
board  of  public  works?  Is  there  a  civil  service  commission  in  this  city 
to  examine  appUcants  for  positions? 

7.  Explain  the  problems  of  city  elections  and  municipal  finance. 
What  is  a  budget?     Are  the  finances  of  this  city  well  managed? 

8.  Is  there  a  housing  problem  in  this  city?  If  so,  what  has  been 
done  toward  its  solution?  What  progress  have  we  made  in  city  plan- 
ning? What  city  parks  and  playgrounds  have  we,  and  what  have  they 
done  for  the  city? 

9.  What  are  the  most  conspicuous  failures  of  American  cities  ?  How 
have  we  remedied  many  of  the  minor  failures?  How  can  we  remedy 
others  ?  Why  must  we  not  expect  as  great  success  in  mimicipal  govern- 
ment as  in  national  government? 

10.  What  is  a  public  utility;  a  franchise?  What  are  quasi-public 
corporations?  Does  this  city  own  a  system  of  waterworks?  If  so, 
when  was  it  constructed  or  purchased  ? 

11.  By  whom  are  street  railway  franchises  granted?  for  how  long, 
usually?  Do  the  railways  pay  the  city  a  percentage  of  their  earnings? 
Are  all  under  a  single  company,  or  are  there  competing  lines  ? 

12.  Under  what  conditions  is  municipal  ownership  of  public  utilities 
advisable  ?  Under  which  is  it  unwise  ?  What  system  of  caring  for  public 
utilities  is  good  under  poor  government? 


CHAPTER  XI 

STATE  AND   COUNTY  GOVERNMENT 

County  and  Town  Government 

185.   Local  Government  in  the  United  States.  —  At  the  The  three 
present  time  we  have  three  types  of  local  erovernment  in  ^^p^^  °^  ^°^^^' 

Kovernnient. 

the  United  States:  (i)  the  town  type,  (2)  the  county  type, 
and  (3)  the  compromise  type.  In  the  six  New  England 
States,  the  town  with  its  town  meetings  still  looks  after  all 
important  local  needs  of  the  inhabitants.  In  the  South, 
the  counties  and  their  officials  take  full  charge  of  local  affairs, 
for  many  of  the  counties  are  not  subdivided  even  into  school 
districts.  But  in  the  majority  of  the  states,  the  compromise 
system  prevails,  each  county  having  townships  with  a  few 
unimportant  duties,  while  all  other  local  public  business  is 
transacted  by  the  county  officers. 

We  must  not  forget  that  our  local  governments  are  but  Interde- 
parts  of  the  system  of  state  government.     The  local  gov-  ^ate^^ndb- 
ernments  derive  their  authority,  not  from  the  people  of  the  locali-  cal  govern- 
ties,  but  from  the  people  of  the  whole  state.     The  local  govern-  ments. 
ments  are,  therefore,  one  set  of  agents  carrying  out  the  wishes 
of  the  people  of  the  states,  the  other  set  of  agents  being  the 
central  governments  of  the  states. ^    Our  local  governments  Local  offi- 
are  chiefly  occupied  with  the  administration  of  laws  made  ^lalshave 

u        1-  1      •  1  1       r  numerous 

by  the  state  legislature  and  of  ordinances  passed  by  the  adminis- 
county  and  town  boards.     Few  of  the  local  officials  are  trative 
called  upon  to  deal  with  great  questions  of  public  policy,  but 
they  are  obliged  to  devote  their  attention  to  a  multitude  of 
details  in  caring  for  the  health  of  the  people,  in  laying  out 

^  It  will  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  §§138,  175  above  and  §§190,  195  below 
that  our  American  states  have  a  great  degree  of  legislative  centralization  and  an 
equal  degree  of  administrative  decentralization. 

203 


204 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Public 
corporations. 


roads  and  constructing  bridges,  in  maintaining  public  schools, 
in  arresting  and  punishing  law  breakers,  in  keeping  records 
of  all  public  business,  besides  looking  after  numerous  other 
matters  of  more  or  less  importance. 

186.   Counties  and  County  Boards.  —  Counties  are  the 
chief  political  subdivisions  of  the  state  and  are  usually  pubhc 


New  Haven  County  Court  House,  New  Haven,  Conn. 


corporations.  A  pubhc  corporation  has  the  right  to  acquire 
land  for  the  erection  of  public  buildings,  assess  and  collect 
taxes  permitted  by  the  state  constitution,  collect  debts  and 
enforce  demands  by  bringing  suit  against  individuals  or  pri- 
vate corporations,  and  sustain  suits  if  any  one  has  a  claim 
against  it.^ 

^As  townships  are  rare  in  the  South,  many  duties  fall  to  the  lot  of  the 
southern  counties  which  elsewhere  belong  to  towns  or  villages. 

Until  the  middle  of  the  last  century  legislatures  were  in  the  habit  of  organiz- 
ing counties  when  they  pleased,  selecting  county  seats,  and  deciding  what  oflBdals 
each  county  should  have,  besides  their  salaries  and  duties.  Before  1830  the 
selection  of  most  covmty  officials  was  made  by  the  legislature,  but  later  it  was 


COUNTY  AND  TOWN  GOVERNMENT      205 

Since  the  people  of  each  county  select  their  officials  and   Great  extent 
since  practically  all  of  our  state  and  local  laws  are  adminis-   °^  ^°^^^  ^^^^" 

1111/^.1  •!  1  r    government 

tered  by  local  officials,  our  counties  nave  a  great  degree  of  in  America. 
political  freedom/  especially  as  they  frequently  may  enforce 
state  laws  or  not,  as  they  please.     Consequently  the  Ameri- 
can people  have  what  is  usually  considered  the  most  vital 
form  of  local  self-government  in  existence. 

Every  county  has  a  supervisory  body  which  makes  most  The  county 
of  the  county  ordinances  and  oversees  the  actions  of  the  other  ^^^^'d- 
officials.  The  members  of  the  county  board  may  be  known 
as  commissioners,  supervisors,  justices  of  the  peace,  or  by  some 
other  name.  They  are  usually  three  or  five  in  number,  and 
are  elected  either  from  the  whole  county,  from  districts  into 
which  the  county  is  divided  for  the  purpose,  or  in  some  states 
from  the  townships.  As  a  board  their  chief  duties  are  to 
divide  the  county  into  school  and  road  districts  and  even 
into  townships,  to  lay  out  public  highways,  to  construct 
bridges,  to  look  after  the  poor,  to  erect  public  buildings,  and, 
most  important  of  all,  to  determine  the  amount  of  money 
needed  to  do  the  work  of  the  county  and  to  supervise  its 
expenditure. 

187.  Other  County  Officials.  —  There  are  ordinarily  county  judges  and 
jttdges  who  are  in  fact  state  officials  (§  198),  although  elected  shenfEs. 
by  the  voters  of  each  county.  The  decisions  of  these  judges, 
and  of  all  higher  state  courts  that  must  be  executed  within 
the  county,  are  carried  into  effect  by  the  sheriff,  who,  by 
virtue  of  this  duty  and  the  more  general  one  of  maintain- 
ing peace  and  order,  is  the  most  powerful  of  the  county 
officials. 

left  to  the  people  of  the  counties  to  elect  or  appoint  them.  During  the  late 
decades  of  the  nineteenth  century,  however,  it  was  customary  for  the  voters  to 
be  consulted  in  the  selection  of  a  county  seat  and  in  the  division  of  a  county 
into  two  or  more  counties  (§  117). 

1  In  191 2  the  county  of  Los  Angeles,  California,  imder  a  new  provision  o! 
the  state  constitution,  adopted  the  first  county  charter  in  the  United  States. 
This  charter  is  a  very  brief  instrument,  but  it  modifies  considerably  the  number 
of  county  ofl5cials  elected  by  the  people.  It  gives  to  its  voters  a  very  much 
larger  share  in  the  home  rule  of  the  county  than  was  ever  granted  before  by  the 
state  government. 


2o6 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Financial 
oflScials. 


Other 

county 

oflScials. 


Government 
of  the  New 
England 
town. 


Most  of  the  revenue  needed  to  maintain  the  government 
of  an  American  county  is  derived  from  the  general  property 
tax  (§  154).  This  is  usually  assessed  by  township  assessors, 
but  it  is  paid  to  county  tax  collectors.  When  collected,  the  tax 
money  is  turned  over  to  the  treasurer ,  who  divides  it  among 
the  general  fund,  the  highway  fund,  the  school  fund,  and 
various  others,  in  accordance  with  instructions  from  the  county 
board.  This  money  is  not  paid  out  except  upon  written 
order  from  the  auditor,  or  of  the  county  clerk  in  some  states. 

The  records  of  the  county  board,  the  proceedings  of  the 
courts,  and  other  official  papers  are  preserved  by  the  county 
clerk.  When  a  suit  in  which  the  county  is  interested  or  a 
criminal  case  is  being  tried  in  the  county  courts,  the  interests 
of  the  county  are  represented  by  the  district  attorney  or  his 
assistants.^ 

188.  The  American  Township.  —  The  essential  feature 
of  New  England  town  government  is  the  mass  meeting  of  the 
voters,  held  at  least  once  a  year  in  the  town  hall.  At  this 
town  meeting  the  men  elect  public  officers,  vote  taxes,  au- 
thorize important  enterprises,  and  express  approval  or  dis- 
approval of  the  acts  of  the  town  officials  during  the  preceding 
year.  The  town  officials  in  New  England  are  very  numerous, 
as  the  town  must  perform  work  which  in  other  sections  is  left 
to  the  county.  The  most  important  of  these  are  the  select- 
men,'^ who  have  general  oversight  of  town  affairs. 

1  Upon  the  county  superintendent  of  schools  devolves  the  task  of  visiting 
schools  and  regulating  the  county  school  system,  and  often  of  superintending  the 
distribution  of  school  moneys.  The  coroner,  with  the  aid  of  a  jury,  investigates 
the  causes  of  violent  or  mysterious  deaths.  All  deeds,  mortgages,  and  other 
business  papers  for  whose  validity  a  record  is  necessary,  are  copied  by  the 
recorder.  Many  states  have  county  surveyors  to  look  after  the  public  lands, 
separate  overseers  of  the  poor,  public  administrators  who  take  charge  of  the 
estates  of  persons  dying  without  wills,  and  other  oflficials. 

2  The  selectmen  nvmiber  three  or  nine,  and  are  elected  usually  for  three  years, 
but  sometimes  for  only  one.  Next  to  them  in  authority  are  the  members  of  the 
school  committee,  one  third  of  whom  retire  each  year.  As  most  of  the  state 
and  local  taxes  are  collected  in  the  towns,  the  assessors  hold  very  responsible 
positions.  There  are  town  tax  collectors,  auditors,  treasurers,  town  clerks,  and 
constables,  who  are  elected  yearly  at  town  meetings.  To  the  overseers  of  the 
poor  and  to  the  overseers  of  the  highways  are  assigned  duties  performed  in  most 
of  the  states  by  the  county  boards  and  their  assistants. 


COUNTY  AND  TOWN  GOVERNMENT      207 

In  New  York  and  in  two  or  three  of  the  north  central  Townships 
states,  town  meetings  are  held  for  the  election  of  officials,  outside  of 
but  the  duties  and  powers  of  these  meetings  are  exceedingly  England 
limited,  although  the  town  officials  may  be  numerous  and 
their  powers  quite  extensive.     If  townships  exist  at  all  in 
the  other  states,  they  are  usually  districts  with  judicial 
officers,  constables,  overseers  of  the  highways,  and  school 
boards  only.^ 

189.  The  Work  of  Rural  Local  Government.  —  Town  and  Purely  local 
county  ofl&cials  have  double  duties  to  perform,  as  they  care  duties, 
for  all  purely  local  interests  of  their  towns  or  counties,  and, 
in  addition,  administer  almost  all  state  laws  within  their 
boundaries.2  Under  the  former  head  come  all  local  im- 
provements which  are  not  of  especial  interest  to  those  out- 
side of  their  locality,  such  as  the  construction  of  local  public 
buildings,  and  the  laying  out  of  local  roads,  measures  to 
protect  the  public  health  from  purely  local  dangers,  and  the 
enforcement  of  such  local  ordinances  as  may  be  needed. 

A  much  greater  amount  of  work  is  performed  in  carrying  Local  admin- 
into  effect  state  laws.     These  state  laws  are  usually  general  istration  of 
and  may  be  modified  frequently  to  meet  local  needs.     The  laws. 
schools  furnish  a  good  example  of  this  combined  action  of  the 
state  and  the  localities ;   for,  while  the  state  creates  a  state 
school  system,  in  the  administration  of  the  general  state  law 
each  locality  is  able  to  establish  schools  that  meet  the  wishes 
of  its  people  (§§  242-247).     Most  laws  in  regard  to  crime 

1  In  most  of  the  newer  states  these  townships  coincide  in  area  with  the 
rectangular  congressional  township.  In  some  parts  of  the  United  States,  more- 
over, there  are  no  important  political  divisions  of  the  counties  except  the  school 
districts.  These  may  have  overseers  of  the  poor  and  highways,  as  well  as 
school  trustees,  and  are  undeveloped  towns  in  fact,  if  not  in  name. 

2  It  has  been  the  custom  to  allow  each  locaUty  to  administer  these  general 
laws  in  the  way  that  seemed  best,  without  much  attempt  to  obtain  uniform 
results  in  different  counties  of  a  state.  Local  pride  and  interest  can  usually  be 
counted  on  to  estabhsh  as  good  a  school  system  as  each  community  can  aflford. 
Few  towns  will  neglect  to  preserve  order.  In  many  respects,  however,  the  best 
results  cannot  be  obtained  unless  the  local  officials  are  supervised  by  state 
authorities.  For  example,  many  states  have  improved  their  school  systems  by 
withholding  state  school  funds  from  the  localities  if  they  fail  to  reach  a  certain 
minimum  of  eflficiency.  There  has  been  a  decided  tendency  in  recent  years  to 
increase  state  supervision  of  local  activities. 


208 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


and  the  punishment  of  crime  are  made  by  the  state  and 
enforced  by  local  police  officers  and  judges  (§§  138-142). 
Except  for  the  most  serious  crimes,  offenders  are  punished  in 
local  jails  and  other  institutions.  Formerly  there  were  many 
problems  and  difficulties  in  the  enforcement  of  liquor  laws 
or  of  "local  option"  laws.  National  prohibition  (§  260) 
has  replaced  all  of  those  regulations.  In  many  states  there 
are  laws  for  the  care  of  the  poor,  but  little  effort  has  thus  far 
been  made  by  the  state  authorities  to  administer  such  laws 
(§§  250-254).  '  . 


Legislative 
powers. 


Restrictions 
on  powers. 


The  State  Legislature 

190.  The  Importance  of  the  Legislature.  —  Besides  the 
local  governments  of  each  state,  that  is,  the  city,  county,  or 
township  governments,  each  state  has  a  central  government 
made  up  of  the  three  departments,  the  legislative,  the  exec- 
utive, and  the  judicial.  The  legislatures  overshadow  the 
rest  of  our  system  of  state  government,  since  they  not  only 
make  laws  upon  all  subjects  that  are  not  expressly  and 
exclusively  granted  to  the  American  Congress,  or  denied 
by  the  national  or  state  constitutions  to  the  legislature,  but 
they  may  also  interfere  in  many  ways  with  the  work  of  the 
other  departments  of  the  state  government.  All  of  the 
general  laws  under  which  our  local  governments  and  schools 
are  organized,  those  referring  to  the  state  and  local  courts 
and  procedure  in  these  courts,  those  dealing  with  the  making 
and  enforcement  of  contracts,  the  transfer  of  property,  mar- 
riage and  divorce,  with  the  prevention  of  the  spread  of  dis- 
eases, with  the  incorporation  of  business  houses  —  all  of 
these  form  only  a  part  of  the  vast  number  under  the  charge 
of  the  legislatures.  The  whole  covers  a  set  of  subjects  of 
the  first  importance  not  only  because  they  are  so  numerous, 
but  because  all  are  of  such  interest  to  us  in  our  home  and 
business  life. 

We  can  probably  obtain  the  best  idea  of  the  enormous 
power  possessed  by  the  legislatures  if  we    mention  the  re- 


THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE 


209 


strictions  placed  upon  them  (§  193),  but  we  must  not  forget 
that  the  powers  exercised  by  the  legislatures  greatly  out- 
number those  denied  to  them. 

191.  Organization  of  the  State  Legislature.  —  The  legis- 
latures in  all  American  states  are  composed  of  two  houses, 
a  smaller  always  called  the  senate  and  a  larger  usually  known 
as  the  house  of  representatives  or  the  assembly.  As  a  rule 
the  legislatures  meet  every  second  year  for  a  period  of  sixty 
or  ninety  days.  The  members  are  paid  by  the  day  or  re- 
ceive a  definite  sum  for  each  session.  They  have  privileges 
which  are  the  outgrowth  of  struggles  between  Parliament 
and  the  English  king  or  between  the  colonial  legislature  and 
governor  in  the  eighteenth  century.^ 

In  most  states  members  of  the  senate  are  elected  for  a 
period  twice  as  long  as  the  term  of  the  members  of  the  lower 
house,  one  half  retiring  at  a  time.  The  senate  usually  has 
the  right  to  confirm  or  reject  appointments  made  by  the 
governor.  It  usually  sits  as  a  court  to  try  officials  who  have 
been  impeached  by  the  lower  house.  The  lower  house  in  some 
states  has  the  exclusive  right  to  propose  bills  for  the  raising 
of  revenue. 

192.  The  Process  of  Lawmaking.  —  As  a  rule,  the  state 
constitutions  prescribe  the  steps  to  be  followed  in  making 
laws.  First  of  all,  a  hill,  as  it  is  called,  is  introduced  in  one 
of  the  houses  of  the  legislature  by  some  member.  The  char- 
acter of  the  bill  is  indicated  by  its  title,  which  must  not  in- 
clude more  than  one  subject.  After  the  clerk  has  read  the 
bill  either  in  full  or  by  the  title,  it  is  usually  sent  to  the  com- 
mittee having  charge  of  all  subjects  similar  to  those  of  which 
the  bill  treats  —  in  technical  language,  the  bill  is  committed. 
If  the  committee  does  not  see  fit  to  bring  into  the  house  a 
report  upon  it,  it  is  said  to  have  been  *'  killed  in  com- 
mittee." If  fortunate  enough  to  escape  this  fate,  it  is 
reported,  read  a  second  and  third  time,  and  possibly  debated 
or  amended.     Finally  it  may  be  brought  to  a  vote,  and  if 

1  They  are  also  subject  to  certain  disabilities,  e.g.  they  may  not  be  ap- 
pointed to  a  lucrative  position  created  during  their  term  of  office. 


Houses  and 


Privileges  of 
the   legis- 
lators. 


Terms  and 
special    pow- 
ers  of  each 
house. 


In  the 
houses. 


2IO 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The 
governor. 


Older  forms 
of  limitation. 


Limitation 
by  the  use  of 
the  state- 
wide initia- 
tive and  ref- 
erendum. 

General  de- 
fects of  our 
state  legis- 
latures. 


favored  by  the  majority  required  by  the  state  constitution 
• —  usually  one  half  of  those  elected  to  the  house  —  it  is  signed 
by  the  presiding  officer  and  sent  to  the  other  house.  Again 
it  must  go  through  the  three  readings  on  three  separate 
days,  and,  if  approved,  is  sent  to  the  governor. 

The  governor  has  from  ten  to  thirty  days  to  decide  whether 
he  will  sign  the  bill.  If  it  is  objectionable  to  him,  he  returns 
it  to  the  house  in  which  it  originated  with  his  reasons  for 
vetoing  it.^  If,  however,  in  spite  of  his  veto,  a  large  majority 
in  each  house  still  wish  the  bill  to  become  a  law,  it  is  "  passed 
over  the  veto  "  and  becomes  a  law  without  the  governor's 
signature. 

193.  Limitations  on  the  Legislature.  —  Since  the  Rev- 
olutionary War  the  power  of  the  legislatures  has  been  re- 
duced greatly  by  different  provisions  of  the  state  constitu- 
tions. Some  of  these  have  been  prohibitions  on  the  legis- 
latui'es,  for  example,  hills  of  rights  which  protect  individuals, 
or  enumerate  topics  on  which  the  making  of  laws  is  prohibited. 
The  authority  of  the  legislature  has  been  limited  also  by  the 
enumeration  of  long  lists  of  subjects  on  which  it  cannot 
make  local  or  special  laws.  On  these  subjects  only  general 
laws  are  permitted,  because  of  abuses  which  occurred 
when  a  law  applied  to  one  person,  a  single  locality,  or  one 
corporation. 

Within  recent  years  the  power  of  the  legislature  —  the- 
oretically in  nearly  half  the  states  and  actually  in  several  of 
them,  especially  Oregon  —  has  been  reduced  by  the  adop- 
tion of  the  initiative  and  the  referendum  (§§  1 16-120). 

194.  Observations  on  the  State  Legislature.  —  In  spite  of 
the  very  great  importance  of  the  work  done  by  the  state 
legislature,  it  impresses  many  critics  as  one  of  the  least  suc- 
cessful features  of  our  political  system.  It  has  been  shorn 
of  its  power  until  there  has  been  difficulty  in  securing  the 

1  The  governor  has  no  veto  in  North  Carolina. 

The  veto  of  the  governor  is  unlike  that  of  the  President  (§  232)  in  that  the 
governors  in  more  than  one  half  of  the  states  may  veto  particular  items  in 
appropriation  bills,  thus  making  it  unnecessary  to  leave  the  state  without 
revenues  because  of  some  xmdesirable  appropriation  or  objectionable  "rider." 


THE  STATE  LEGISLATURE  211 

best  men  as  legislators.  This  in  turn  has  intensified  the 
distrust  with  which  the  people  have  viewed  the  legislature 
and  its  powers.  Undoubtedly  lobbying  and  the  pernicious 
activity  of  politicians,  corporations,  and  other  people  who 
could  not  honestly  be  called  disinterested,  have  interfered  with 
the  regular  work  of  the  legislature  and  given  it  a  bad  repu- 
tation. 

In  its  attempt  to  reduce  the  length  of  the  legislative  ses-  The  exces- 
sions,  the  public  has  aggravated  another  evil  of  the  legisla-  Q^hasT^^e*^ 
ture,  that  of  making  too  many  laws.^     Shortening  sessions  isiation. 
has  not  diminished  the  excessive  number  of  laws  which  our 
legislatures  have  passed,  but  it  has  limited  the  time  which 
could  be  given  to  the  consideration  of  each  law.     Conse- 
quently we  have  added  badly  constructed  and  hastily  adopted 
laws  to  a  defect  common  in  all  democracies,  that  of  too  much 
legislation. 

Remedies  for  these  evils  and  for  conditions  almost  as  Remedies  in 
serious  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  adoption  of  a  new  con-  p^^^^  5!^"^ 

.        ,  ^  .         f.  .        and  public 

stitutional  amendment  or  m  the  enactment  of  a  few  wise  education, 
laws.  We  must  go  deeper  and,  if  necessary,  define  more 
exactly  the  work  of  the  legislature ;  we  must  use  more  care 
in  the  selection  of  our  legislators;  we  must  recognize  the 
right  of  any  state  official  to  our  trust  and  confidence  until  he 
has  proved  unworthy;  we  must  seek  to  form  an  educated 
public  opinion  which  will  tolerate  only  first  class  men,  wise 
laws,  sane  legislation,  and  a  well  organized  system  of  state 
government. 

State  Administration  and  Courts 

195.   The  State  Governor.  —  The  enforcement  of  state  law  Local  and 
is  intrusted  to  certain  persons  connected  with  the  state  gov-  ^^gfj-^ti^'n 
ernment  or  to  the  ofiicials  of  the  cities,  towns,  and  counties  of  state  law. 

1  It  is  said  that,  within  a  period  of  five  years,  more  than  6o,ooo  laws  were 
passed  by  our  state  legislatures,  go  per  cent  of  which  dealt  with  business.  Dur- 
ing a  period  twice  as  long  Great  Britain  and  her  colonies  passed  only  i8oo. 
Even  then  the  latter  number  was  many  times  as  large  as  the  total  number  of 
laws  passed  by  England  during  several  centuries  of  Anglo-Saxon  rule. 


212 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


of  the  state.  As  most  of  the  laws  are  carried  out  by  local 
officers,  comparatively  few  duties  are  left  to  the  governor, 
the  secretary  of  state,  and  other  state  officials,  who  are  mainly 
occupied  with  routine  work. 

The  governor  is  by  far  the  most  prominent  and  powerful 
executive  official  of  the  state.     Around  his  election  centers 


Executive  Office. 


Importance 
of  the 
governor. 


the  chief  interest  in  state  politics.  He  is  usually  chosen  for 
a  term  of  two  or  four  years.  More  than  any  other  one  per- 
son, he  determines  what  the  policy  of  the  state  government 
shall  be,  and  he  receives  the  praise  for  success  and  bears 
the  blame  for  mismanagement  in  the  different  executive 
departments. 

The  governor  is  able  to  control  the  actions  of  only  a  few 
state  administrative  officials  and  practically  no  local  ad- 
ministrative officers,  for  few  of  the  state  officials   are   ap- 


THE  STATE  GOVERNOR 


213 


pointed  and  removable  by  the  governor  and  therefore  re- 
sponsible to  him.  At  the  present  time,  however,  there  is  a 
very  strong  movement  to  concentrate  more  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  governor,  giving  him  more  control  not  only  over 
his  colleagues  but  over  some  local  administrative  olSicials 
who  administer  distinctively  state  laws. 


Administra- 
tive control 
of  the 
governor. 


Pennsylvania  State  Capitol. 


©  wmtam  H.  Ran.  Phila/UlpUa- 


196.   Powers  of  the  Governor.  —  Although  the  executive  General 

power  of  the  state  government  is  divided  between  the  gov-  ^^^^^^^^_ 

ernor,    the    governor's    colleagues,^    other    administrative  istrative 

officials  who  are  elected  at  the  same  time  or  appointed  by  powers. 

1  The  governor's  colleagues  who  are  elected  by  the  people  include  a  lieutenant 
governor  in  about  three  fourths  of  the  states,  a  secretary  of  state,  financial 
oflScials,  especially  a  controller  or  auditor,  and  an  attorney -general.  In  addition, 
many  of  the  states  elect  a  large  number  of  ofl&cials  who  in  commonwealths  with 
more  centraUzed  governments  are  now  appointed.  These  may  include  treas- 
urers, superintendents  of  public  works  and  public  instruction,  surveyor-generals, 
public  printers,  and  others. 


214 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Legislative 
powers  of  the 
governor. 


Superin- 
tendents, 
commissions, 
and  boards. 


Centralized 
and    decen- 
tralized 
systems. 


some  higher  ofl&cial,  and  administrative  boards  or  com- 
missions of  which  there  are  often  a  great  number,  the  gov- 
ernor retains  a  much  larger  share  than  any  other  official  or 
group.  Offices  to  which  he  may  make  appointments,  usually 
with  the  consent  of  the  senate,  are  both  numerous  and 
valuable,  and  his  power  of  removal  while  not  great  is  con- 
stantly increasing.  He  often  has  one  judicial  power,  that  of 
granting  pardons.  Ordinarily  he  is  the  commander-in-chief 
of  the  state  military  forces,  the  militia.  In  time  of  crises 
this  miUtary  power  adds  greatly  to  his  civil  authority  in 
enforcing  state  laws. 

The  governor's  most  important  powers,  possibly,  are 
those  relating  to  the  legislature  and  to  legislation.  He  may 
send  messages  to  the  legislature  and  has  the  power  to  call 
special  sessions  of  that  body.  His  right  to  veto  bills  is  un- 
doubtedly his  most  valuable  legislative  power.  Only  one 
of  the  states  does  not  allow  its  governor  to  veto  bills. 

197.  Organization  of  the  State  Administration.  —  Our 
state  governments  have  numerous  duties  to  perform  in 
overseeing  the  administration  of  state  law.  At  the  head 
of  the  school  systems  of  the  states  are  state  superintendents 
and  state  boards  of  education.  The  regulation  of  the  rail- 
ways within  any  state  is  intrusted  to  a  state  railway  com- 
mission, or  a  state  public  utility  commission  (§  288).  State 
boards  of  health  and  of  charity,  state  labor  bureaus,  and  many 
others  constitute  separate  departments  which  aid  in  ad- 
ministering state  laws.^ 

In  several  states  the  general  oversight  of  the  administra- 
tion of  the  poor  laws  and  the  penal  laws  is  intrusted  to  a 
single  'state  board  of  charities  and  correction.  Much  more 
frequently  the  states  have  separate  boards  of  charity,  prison 
boards,  commissions  for  the  insane  and  others.  Each  of 
these  distinct  commissions  has  but  a  single  set  of  duties, 

1  As  a  rule,  the  boards  in  charge  of  these  administrative  departments  are 
appointed  by  the  governor  of  the  state  for  terms  of  several  years.  Many  of  the 
boards  are  bipartisan ;  that  is,  composed  of  an  equal  number  of  members  from 
each  of  the  two  great  political  parties.  In  a  few  states,  some  of  the  boards  are 
elected  from  districts. 


THE   STATE   COURTS  215 

and  it  usually  makes  no  effort  to  work  in  harmony  with  the 
other  hoards  which  have  charitable  or  corrective  work.  Many 
states  have  recently  combined  not  only  many  commissions 
into  a  single  department  of  charities  and  corrections,  but 
they  have  united  other  separate  boards  if  their  duties  are 
alike. 

198.  The  State  Courts.  —  Our  state  and  local  govern-  state  and 
ments  perform  many  more  tasks  than  does  the  national  national 
government,  and  these  duties  bring  them  into  close  touch 
with  the  citizen  in  his  everyday  life.  Because  of  this  fact, 
almost  all  civil  and  criminal  suits  brought  for  trial  in  the 
United  States  are  tried  in  state  courts,  rather  than  in  those 
of  the  nation.  Not  only  are  these  suits  begun  in  state  tri- 
bunals, but,  if  they  do  not  involve  points  of  national  law, 
the  decision  of  the  highest  state  courts  to  which  the  case 
may  be  carried  is  final,  for  the  case  may  not  be  appealed 
to  any  other  court  whatsoever. 

At  the  apex  of  every  state  judicial  system  is  a  single  court.  Different 
to  which  all  important  cases  may  be  appealed  for  final  decision,  state 
This  highest  court  has,  as  a  rule,  no  original  jurisdiction ; 
that  is,  it  considers  only  those  cases  tried  first  in  a  lower 
court.^  Below  the  highest  court,  each  state  is  divided  into 
a  suitable  number  of  circuits  or  districts  over  each  of  which 
presides  a  court,  called  a  circuit  or  district  court  as  the  case 
may  be.  These  courts  may  have  original  jurisdiction  in 
important  suits,  but  most  of  their  time  is  spent  in  trying  ap- 
peal cases,  which  come  from  those  next  lower,  the  county 
courts.  The  judges  of  these  courts  are  in  one  sense  county 
officials,  because  they  are  elected  by  the  voters  of  the  coun- 
ties, although  the  cases  tried  before  them  involve  state  laws 

1  Some  of  the  states  call  the  highest  court  the  Court  of  Appeals,  and  have  in 
addition  another  court  for  the  whole  state,  which  is  known  as  the  Supreme 
Court;  but  some  of  them  have  only  one  court  for  the  entire  state,  the  name 
Supreme  being  usually  applied  to  this. 

The  number  of  judges  in  these  courts  is  usually  three,  five,  or  seven,  and 
they  are  ordinarily  chosen  for  a  long  term  of  years  by  the  voters  of  the  entire 
state.  Occasionally  they  are  elected  by  the  voters  of  districts  equal  in  number 
to  the  number  of  the  judges,  but  in  six  states  they  are  appointed  by  the  gover- 
nors, and  in  five  by  the  legislatures. 


2l6 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Judges  and 
sessions. 


more  frequently  than  local  laws.  The  base  of  the  judicial 
pyramid  is  formed  by  the  country  justices  of  the  peace,  or  by 
the  city  courts,  criminal  and  civil,  whose  jurisdiction  is  of 
necessity  wholly  original  and  confined  to  minor  cases  or  those 
involving  local  laws. 

Except  in  a  few  of  the  Eastern  states,  these  judges  are 
elected  by  the  voters  of  the  section  within  which  the  court 
has  jurisdiction,  and,  with  a  few  notable  exceptions,  elec- 
tions are  held  at  least  every  four  years.  As  the  business  of 
the  inferior  state  courts  is  more  voluminous  than  important, 
each  judge  holds  court  separately,  whereas  in  the  higher 
courts  all  the  judges  constituting  the  court  usually  sit  to- 
gether for  the  trial  of  cases.^ 


Fundamental  Laws  and  Sphere  of  Activity 


199.    Sphere  of  State  Action.  —  It  is  difficult  to  realize 
the  variety  of  activities  left  to  the  states,  that  is,  to  the 

state  "  and 


Powers  di- 
rectly  or  in 

ded^d^to  the  People  of  the  states  governed  through  their 


states.  local  governments.     We  may  get  some  conception  of  the  ex- 

tent of  their  power  if  we  notice  what  powers  are  denied  to 
the  states  directly  or  indirectly.  All  powers  granted  to  the 
national  government  alone  are  indirectly  denied  to  the  states.^ 
In  addition  the  United  States  Constitution  enumerates  many 
powers  which  the  states  may  not  assume.^ 

1  That  all  of  these  judges  are  really  state  officers,  even  when  elected  by  the 
locaUties,  may  be  shown  by  the  statement  that  they  are  removable  in  most  of 
the  states  by  the  legislatures,  either  through  impeachment  or  by  a  majority 
vote  of  both  houses. 

*The  United  States  Constitution  enumerates  the  powers  granted  to  the  na- 
tional government,  such  as  the  right  to  levy  taxes,  declare  war  and  make  peace, 
provide  an  army  and  a  navy,  arrange  treaties,  regulate  foreign  and  interstate 
commerce,  coin  money,  and  govern  national  territory ;  and  the  same  Constitu- 
tion mentions  which  of  these  powers  and  what  others  are  especiahy  forbidden 
to  the  states. 

'  No  state  can  engage  in  war  or  raise  an  army  unless  actually  invaded,  nor 
collect  duties  upon  imported  goods  except  for  the  national  treasviry,  nor  make 
any  treaty.  The  states  may  not  coin  money,  issue  paper  money,  "make  any- 
thing but  gold  or  silver  a  tender  payment  of  debts,  pass  any  bill  of  attainder, 
ex  post  facto  law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  or  grant  any  title 
of  nobility."  Fiurthermore,  no  state  may  establish  a  system  of  slavery,  "make 
or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities  of  citizens 


SPHERE  OF  STATE  ACTIVITY 


217 


Unless,  however,  a  power  is  granted  to  the  United  States 
government  exclusively,  or  denied  to  the  states  in  explicit 
language,  it  may  be  exercised  by  any  state  as  it  sees  fit. 
This  very  broad  sphere  of  state  activity  we  shall  consider 
under  the  three  following  heads:  (i)  a  summary  of  the 
classes  of  duties  performed  by  the  states ;  (2)  the  unifoormity 
and  diversity  in  legislation  and  administration  among  the 
different  states  on  the  subjects  left  to  their  control;  and 
(3)  the  constitutions  under  which  these  powers  are  actively 
exercised. 

200.  Classes  of  Duties  performed  by  the  States.  — 
We  may  consider  briefly  five  important  classes  of  duties 
performed  by  our  states.  (I)  The  first  of  these  deals  with 
state  and  local  government,  subject  to  the  limitation  of  the 
national  Constitution  that  the  governments  shall  be  repub- 
lican in  character.  The  states  create  such  "  state  "  and 
local  governments  as  they  please  under  such  constitutions 
as  they  wish,  provided  the  constitution  does  not  seek  to 
exercise  any  of  the  powers  which  are  forbidden.  In  addition 
the  people  of  the  states  also  decide  who  shall  be  voters,  that 
is,  who  may  take  part  in  the  work  of  governing  either  state 
or  nation.  1 

(II)  Individual  rights  are  protected  from  government 
officials  far  more  by  our  state  constitutions  than  by  our 
national  Constitution,  because  the  rights  with  which  the 
officials  are  likely  to  interfere  are  rights  which  we  have 
under  the  state  governments. 

(III)  The  states  have  practically  entire  charge  in  making 
all  laws  dealing  with  our  personal  relations  with  one  another, 
the  laws  dealing  with  property,  and  the  laws  under  which 
almost  all  of  our  business  is  done,  including  the  organization 
of  corporations  (§  277).     The  legal  relations  of  husband  to 


Powers  left 
to  the  states 


Duties  deal- 
ing with 
state  and 
local  govern 
ment. 


Constitu- 
tional rights 
of  the  indi- 
vidual. 


Vast  scope 
of  the  private 
laws  of  the 
state. 


of  the  United  States ;  nor  shall  any  state  deprive  any  person  of  Uf e,  Uberty, 
or  property,  without  due  process  of  law;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its 
jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws."  No  state  is  allowed  to  abridge 
the  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  on  account  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition  of  servitude. 

^  Theoretically,  this  power  is  limited  by  the  fifteenth  amendment. 


2l8 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Work  of  the 
state  courts. 


Administra- 
tive work  of 
the  states; 


Why  there 
should  not  be 
great  diver- 
sity in  laws 
in  different 
states. 


wife,  of  parent  to  child,  of  employer  to  employee,  of  prin- 
cipal to  agent  are  determined  by  the  states  and  not  by  the 
national  government.  For  example,  all  our  marriage  and 
divorce  laws,  laws  relating  to  labor,  any  law  dealing  with 
contracts  which  one  person  makes  with  another  are  state 
laws.  Our  right  to  hold  real  or  personal  property,  to  buy  or 
sell  anything,  or  to  inherit  a  bequest  is  exercised  under  state 
laws. 

(IV)  The  enumeration  of  individual  rights  in  the  state 
constitution  and  the  making  of  the  laws  just  mentioned 
necessarily  involves  some  means  of  protecting  those  in- 
dividuals whose  rights  under  the  constitutions  or  laws 
have  been  infringed  by  other  persons.  Our  system  of  state 
courts  seeks  to  protect  any  one  who  has  been  injured  by 
another,  in  order  that  the  innocent  and  defenseless  may 
not  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  powerful  and  unscrupulous. ^ 

(V)  The  administrative  work  done  by  our  states  chiefly 
through  the  local  governments  is  of  almost  infinite  variety. 
One  needs  but  to  mention  education  (§§  242-247),  health 
(§§  255-259),  streets,  public  buildings,  and  other  public 
improvements  to  give  some  idea  of  the  scope  of  this  work. 

201.  Uniformity  and  Diversity  in  State  Legislation.  — 
Since  the  states,  not  necessarily  the  state  governments,  have 
the  power  to  make  such  laws  as  they  please  in  relation  to 
the  subjects  which  we  have  just  considered,  it  is  quite  in- 
teresting to  know  whether  the  laws  of  the  various  states 
are  very  much  alike.  If  the  states  have  a  dozen  different 
kinds  of  laws  regulating  the  making  and  enforcement  of 
contracts,  persons  in  different  states  cannot  do  business 
with  one  another.  Nowadays  we  feel  that  these  laws  not 
only  should  be,  but  must  be,  more-  or  less  similar,  for  no 


*  As  comparatively  few  crimes  are  committed  in  violation  of  national  laws, 
practically  all  criminals  are  tried  by  state  courts  and  punished  in  state  institu- 
tions because  they  break  laws  which  have  been  passed  by  the  state  legislatures 
for  the  protection  of  the  rights  and  property  of  citizens.  As  most  cases  tried 
in  a  state  court  may  not  be  appealed  to  a  national  court  unless  they  involve  na- 
tional law,  which  comparatively  few  cases  do,  the  administration  of  justice  in  all 
those  matters  which  concern  us  most  closely  is  a  phase  of  state  activity. 


SPHERE  OF  STATE  ACTIVITY  219 

state  is  willing  to  depend  upon  its  own  people  for  all  that 
it  needs.  We  believe  that  state  boundaries  ought  not  to  be 
division  lines  between  radically  dij^erent  systems  of  law.  In- 
terstate trade  or  interstate  travel  is  no  longer  a  thing  of  rare 
occasion,  but  an  everyday  affair,  and  the  need  of  uniformity 
in  all  of  the  great  principles  of  state  law  is  becoming  con- 
stantly greater. 

The  degree  of  uniformity  in  state  laws  is  much  more  marked  Uniformity  in 
than  the  diversity,  because  the  differences  are  ordinarily  in  general  prm- 
DETAiLS,  while  the  general  principles  of  state  law  are  every-  state  law. 
where  much  the  same.    As  President  Woodrow  Wilson  says: 
*'  We  feel  the  conflicts  because  we  suffer  under  their  vexations ; 
while  we  fail   to   realize  and   appreciate   the  uniformities, 
because  they  are  normal,  and  have  come  to  seem  matters  of 
course." 

Variations  in  state  laws  upon  important  subjects,  how-  Unfortunate 
ever,  are  quite  numerous  and  often  objectionable.  An  illus-  diversity  in 
tration  of  the  difficulties  of  governing  and  the  problems  of  coMrof  and 
proper  control  which  are  due  to  a  lack  of  uniform  legislation  divorce  law. 
is  furnished  in  connection  with  corporations  (§§  274-278). 
Another  example  of  trouble  caused  by  differences  of  state 
legislation  arises  in  connection  with  divorce  (§§  82,  ^t,). 

Various  methods  have  been  tried  in  order  to  secure  more  Means  of  se- 
uniform  legislation.     In  many  cases  conferences  such  as  the  curing 
annual  meetings  of  state  executives  called  the  "  House  of  uniformity. 
Governors  "  have  been  held  in  order  to  agree  upon  desirable 
legislation  or  improved  uniform  methods  of  administration. 
Most  important  of  all  is  the  work  of  the  Commission  of 
Uniform  Laws,  recommending  to  their  states  the  adoption 
of  laws,  forms,  and  methods  which  should  be  as  nearly  uni- 
form as  possible  in  all  of  the  states. 

202.   The    Character    of    a    State     Constitution.  —  The  Relation  to 
nature  of  the  government  in  any  state  and  the  extent  to  ^^  ^^^  °^ 
which  it  makes  use  of  any  powers  in  the  state  sphere  of  ac- 
tivities depends  upon  its  state  constitution. 

A  state  constitution  is  the  fundamental  law  which  the  people 
of  the  state  have  arranged  for  their  government  and  pro- 


220 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Relation  to 
the  Consti- 
tution of  the 
United 
States. 


Ways    of 
changing  a 
constitu- 
tion. 


Proposing 
constitutional 
amendments 
or  general 
revision  of  a 
state  consti- 
tution. 


tection.  Unless  they  have  overstepped  the  limit  of  the 
sphere  of  activity  left  to  the  state  by  the  people  of  the  whole 
United  States,  their  constitution  can  be  modified  only  by 
themselves.  But  if  any  article  of  a  state  constitution  is  con- 
trary to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  it  must  be  re- 
vised, because  the  national  "  Constitution  and  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof, 
and  all  treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  the  au- 
thority of  the  United  States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land,  and  the  judges  in  every  state  shall  be  bound  thereby, 
anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of  any  state  to  the  con- 
trary notwithstanding." 

On  the  other  hand,  a  law  made  by  the  state  legislature 
which  conflicts  with  the  state  constitution  will  be  set  aside 
by  the  courts  as  unconstitutional  and  void.  The  state  con- 
stitutions can  therefore  be  changed  only  by  the  people  of 
the  states,  acting  directly  and  through  special  representa- 
tives, except  upon  those  rare  occasions  when  an  amendment 
to  the  United  States  Constitution  affects  the  constitution  of 
the  state.^ 

203.  The  Adoption  and  Amendment  of  a  State  Constitu- 
tion. —  Each  state  constitution  contains  definite  provisions 
for  general  revision  or  for  specific  amendment.  Ordinarily 
the  calling  of  a  new  constitutional  convention  or  the  pro- 
posal of  a  constitutional  amendment  is  left  with  the  legis- 
lature, but  a  few  states  have  provided  in  their  constitutions 
that  constitutional  conventions  may  be  held  at  regular 
intervals  varying  from  seven  to  twenty  years.  Some  other 
states  permit  the  proposal  of  constitutional  amendments 
through  the  initiative  (§  116).^ 

In  the  legislatures  a  majority,  usually  two  thirds,  is  re- 


1  For  the  same  reason,  the  constitution  of  a  state  might  be  amended  by  the 
adoption  of  an  amendment  to  the  national  Constitution  which  the  state  did 
not  ratify. 

2  During  recent  years  there  has  been  a  pronounced  movement  toward  the 
reorganization  of  state  administration  and  the  improvement  of  state  constitu- 
tions. The  National  Municipal  League  has  had  protracted  conferences  in  an 
attempt  to  prepare  a  model  state  constitution. 


STATE   CONSTITUTIONS  221 

quired  in  each  house  before  an  amendment  is  presented  to  Adoption 
the  people  for  ratification  or  before  the  people  vote  upon  the  ^^4  ^^^^^' 

^     ■,  f.  r  .        .         1  ^     5  T  -    cation  of  a 

holdmg  of  a  new  constitutional  convention.     In  some  of  constitu- 
the  older  states,  however,  amendments  are  proposed  in  one  tional 
legislature  and  may  not  be  submitted  to  the  voters  until  ^^^^  ^^^^' 
they  have  been  approved  by  a  second  legislature  at  least  a 
year  later.     In  any  case  the  ratification  or  rejection  of  an 
amendment  or  a  new  constitution  is  always  decided  by  the 
•  voters  at  the  polls. 

204.   The  Contents  of  Our  State  Constitution.  —  UnUke  Need  of  con- 
our  national  Constitution,  which  is  general  and  brief,  prac-  ^^^^^\ 

.     „         n      r     T  •        •  •        f  11    amendment. 

tically  all  of  the  constitutions  m  the  states  are  long  and 
overburdened  with  numerous  provisions.  So  detailed  are 
many  of  these  articles,  and  so  unimportant  are  the  subjects 
treated,  that  continual  amendment  is  necessary  in  order 
that  the  constitution  may  meet  in  any  degree  the  real  needs 
of  the  people. 

In  every  constitution,  of  course,  there  is  a  Bill  of  Rights-  Bills  of 
which  states  some  general  principles  of  liberty  and  gov-  "^^^^  ^^^ 
ernment  and  specifies  those  individual  rights  which  shall  not  government. 
be  disturbed  by  any  state  or  local  government  or  official. 
Necessarily  there  is  a  frame  of  government,  which  describes 
the  composition  and  powers  of  the  legislative,  executive,  and 
judicial  branches  of  the  state  government  and  possibly  of 
the  local  government.     Equally  necessary  are  the  provisions 
for  amendment  or  general  revision  of  the  constitution  and  for 
suffrage.  ^  ^ 

In  addition  to  these  provisions  which  are  truly  constitu-  Miscellane- 
tional  there  are  elaborate  statutes  dealing  less  with  the  ousprovi- 
principles  than  with  details  of  such  subjects  as  education, 
corporations,  taxation,  public  lands,  public  institutions, 
property,  and  several  others  of  a  hundred  different  possible 
topics.  These  statutes  have  made  the  newer  constitutions 
almost  like  codes  or  summaries  of  statutes,  which  must,  of 
course,  be  revised  much  more  frequently  than  would  be 
necessary  for  true  constitutions. 


222  THE  NEW  CIVICS 


General  References 


Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State  (rev.  ed.),  344-402. 
Hart,  Actual  Government,  1 13-179.       ♦ 
Beard,  American  Government  and  Politics,  428-577,  638-655. 
Bryce,  Tlie  American  Commonwealth,  4tli  ed.,  I,  411-679. 
Beard,  Readings  in  American  Government  and  Politics,  391-508,  556- 
566. 

Dealey,  Our  State  Constitutions. 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  ^^  County  Government,"  May,  19 13. 

Reinsch,  Readings  on  American  State  Government. 

Holcombe,  State  Government  in  the  United  States. 

The  American  State  Series : 

Finley  and  Sanderson,  The  American  Executive  and  Executive  Methods. 

Reinsch,  American  Legislatures  and  Legislative  Methods, 

Baldwin,  The  American  Judiciary. 

Fairlie,  Local  Government  in  Towns,  Counties,  and  Villages. 

Topics 

The  New  England  Town:  Channing,  Town  and  County  Govern- 
ment in  the  Colonies,  Johns  Hopkins  University  Studies,  II,  459-474; 
De  Tocqueville,  Democracy  in  America,  1,  74-86 ;  Howard,  Local  Con- 
stitutional History,  62-99. 

The  Defects  of  Our  State  Legislatures  :  Bryce,  The  American 
Commonwealth,  abridged  ed.,  371-386;  Roosevelt,  "Phases  of  State 
Legislation,"  in  Century,  29  (1885),  820-831 ;  Lowell,  F.  C,  "Legislative 
Shortcomings,"  in  Atlantic  Monthly,  79  (1897),  366-377;  Reinsch, 
American  Legislatures,  228-274. 

Studies 

1.  County  home  rule  in  California.  Works,  L.  R.,  in  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy,  47  (1913),  229-236. 

2.  Charity  work  in  a  Pennsylvania  county.  Harris,  E.  F.,  in  Annals 
of  the  American  Academy,  47  (1913),  166-181. 

3.  Progress  of  lawmaking  in  states.  Shaw,  W.  B.,  in  Review  of  Re- 
views, 48  (1913),  84-90. 

4.  American  legislation  in  recent  years.  Stimson,  -  Popular  Law- 
Making,  11 7-1 23. 

5.  Legislative  committees.     Reinsch,  American  Legislatures,  i^g-iSi. 

6.  Public  forces  influencing  legislative  action.  Reinsch,  ^wmca« 
Legislatures,  275-298.  , 

7.  The  legislative  product.     Reinsch,  American  Legislatures,  299-330. 

8.  The  governor  and  the  legislature.  Finley  and  Sanderson,  Ameri- 
can Executive  and  Executive  Methods,  57-82. 


STATE  AND   COUNTY   GOVERNMENT  223 

9.  Appointment,  tenure  of  office,  and  compensation  of  judges.  Bald- 
win, The  American  Judiciary,  311-343. 

10.  Right  of  the  courts  to  interpret  and  set  aside  laws.  Baldwin, 
The  American  Judiciary,  81-97. 

11.  Methods  of  selecting  and  retiring  judges.  Kales,  A.  M.,  in 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  52  (1914),  1-12. 

12.  Uniform  legislation  in  the  United  States.  Smith,  W.  G.,  in 
Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  52  (1914),  67-76. 

13.  The  bench  and  the  bar  in  America.  Bryce,  The  American  Com- 
monwealth, II,  Chaps.  67,  68. 

Questions 

1 .  How  many  counties  are  there  in  this  state  ?  How  do  they  compare 
in  area  and  population?  In  what  county  do  we  live?  What  is  its 
area?  its  population  by  the  last  census ?  What  is  the  county  seat?  Is 
it  centrally  located?    Is  it  the  largest  city  in  the  county? 

2.  What  name  is  given  to  our  county  board?  How  many  members 
are  there  on  it?  Are  they  chosen  in  towns,  in  districts,  or  from  the 
whole  county?    Name  their  principal  powers. 

3.  What  is  the  term  of  the  elected  county  officials?  Are  all  chosen 
at  the  same  time?  Are  any  county  officials  appointed  by  the  state 
government  ? 

4.  What  is  the  main  political  subdivision  of  this  county  called? 
How  many  are  there  in  the  county?  Are  they  public  corporations? 
What  officers  has  each?  Do  they  ever  hold  meetings  of  all  of  the  voters 
within  the  district  ?    If  so,  when  and  for  what  purpose  ? 

5.  How  many  senators  are  there  in  the  legislature  of  this  state? 
how  many  representatives?  For  what  terms  are  they  elected?  What 
salary  does  each  member  receive?  Is  the  senate  a  "continuous"  body? 
If  so,  what  proportion  of  the  members  retires  at  a  time?  (State  con- 
stitution.) 

6.  When  are  state  elections  held  ?  When  and  how  often  does  the 
legislature  meet  ?  What  percentage  of  members  in  the  legislature  are 
necessary  to  pass  a  bill  over  the  governor's  veto  ?  Who  is  the  governor 
of  this  state  ?  Who  are  our  representatives  in  the  legislature  ?  To  what 
political  party  does  each  belong  ? 

7.  Give  the  term  and  salary  of  our  governor.  Has  he  the  right  to 
veto  specific  items  in  appropriation  bills?  What  other  elected  state 
executive  officials  have  we  besides  the  governor? 

8.  Are  the  administrative  departments  centralized  to  any  extent? 

9.  Give  the  names  of  the  different  courts  in  this  state.  How  many 
judges  are  there  in  each  court  ?  Give  the  term  of  office  of  each  class  of 
judges. 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  NATIONAL  CONSTITUTION 


Historical  Development 


Reasons  for 
early  unions. 


Stamp  Act 
Congress. 


First  Conti- 
nental Con- 
gress and  the 
American 
Association. 


205.  Early  American  Unions.  —  Before  the  adoption  of 
the  first  regular  confederation  among  the  states  in  1781, 
several  small  or  temporary  unions  had  been  attempted.^  At 
first  these  were  due  to  the  need  of  concerted  action  against 
the  French  or  the  Indian  tribes.  The  later  unions  were 
organized  because  the  colonists  wished  to  make  common 
cause  against  the  mother  country. 

In  1765,  when  the  English  parliament  passed  the  Stamp 
Act,  nine  of  the  colonies  sent  delegates  to  a  Stamp  Act  Con- 
gress in  New  York.  This  congress  drew  up  a  declaration 
stating  that  they  could  legally  be  taxed  only  by  their  own 
legislatures. 

The  first  real  union  of  the  colonies  grew  out  of  the  inter- 
colonial Committees  of  Correspondence  and  the  town  com- 
mittees associated  with  them  in  an  organization  known  as 
the  American  Association.  The  Association  was  practically 
a  national  organization,  because  it  included  most  towns  and 
counties  in  the  revolting  colonies.  It  was  formed  in  order 
to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  First  Continental  Congress,  which 
met  in  Philadelphia  in  1774.     This  Congress  maintained  that 

1  The  earUest  of  these  was  the  New  England  Confederation,  organized  in 
1643  by  the  four  little  New  England  colonies  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  New  Plym- 
outh, Connecticut,  and  New  Haven.  The  central  government  was  nothing 
more  than  an  advisory  board  composed  of  two  commissioners  from  each  colony, 
who  had  little  authority.  Actually  the  Confederation  lasted  only  about  ten 
years.  In  1754,  just  before  the  last  war  with  France,  a  congress  of  the  colonies 
was  held  at  Albany,  New  York.  At  that  time  Benjamin  Franklin  proposed 
the  Albany  plan  of  military  imion,  which  provided  for  a  president-general  ap- 
pointed by  the  English  king  and  a  grand  marshal  selected  by  the  colonies.  It 
was  discussed  a  little,  but  was  never  considered  seriously. 

224 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION  225 

the  colonies  were  *'  entitled  to  a  free  and  exclusive  power  of 
legislation  in  their  several  provincial  legislatures." 

The  earliest  congress  to  represent  a  real  union  of  the  Great 
American  people  was  the  Second  Continental  Congress,  which  authority 

,      r  11  A  .  •  .        ,  .     .         exercised  by 

looked  after  all  common  American  interests  in  the  stirring  the  Second 
years  from  1775  to  1781.  This  congress  was  executive  and  Continental 
legislature  in  one.  It  organized  an  army  and  a  navy,  regu- 
lated commerce,  sent  representatives  to  France  and  other 
countries,  issued  paper  money,  advised  the  colonies  to  form 
independent  state  governments,  declared  the  united  colonies 
free  and  independent  of  Great  Britain,  and  proposed  to  the 
states  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  by  which  their  union 
was  legalized.  At  no  time,  however,  did  it  possess  any  legal 
authority  for  the  powers  of  sovereignty  which  it  actually 
exercised. 

206.   The  Confederation.  —  When  the  American  colonies  Three  steps 
declared  their  independence  of  Great  Britain,  they  also  ap-  J^^^I^J^^^f 
pointed  a  congressional  committee ,  composed  of  one  delegate  Confedera- 
from  each  state,  to  draw  up  articles  of  union.     These  articles  tion. 
were  discussed  for  more  than  a  year  and  were  adopted  by 
Congress  in  1777.     They  were  not  ratified  by  all  of  the  states 
until  1781.^ 

This  Confederation  provided  for  a  firm  league  of  friend-   Character 
ship  among  the  several  states,  each  of  which  claimed  to  re-  ^^5  ^^^^J^l 

.      ,,  .  .  ,        ,  1-1  1  ,,      -r  zationofthe 

tain     its  sovereignty,  freedom,  and  independence.       It  pro-   Confeder- 
vided  for  an  interstate  citizenship,  which  was  of  real  value  ^tion. 
in  bringing  the  people  together.     The  government  consisted 
of  a  congress  of  from  two  to  seven  delegates  from  each  state, 
each  state  having  one  vote. 

In  theory.   Congress  controlled  all  matters  of  common  Powers  of 
interest,  such  as  making  war  or  treaties,  creating  an  army  Congress. 
and  a  navy,  regulating  the  value  of  coin,  arranging  treaties 
with  the  Indians,  and  settling  interstate  disputes  regarding 

1  Most  of  the  states  gave  their  consent  without  delay,  but  Maryland  refused 
to  sign  the  Articles  xintil  her  neighbor  Virginia  gave  up  her  claims  to  that  vast 
region  in  the  West  which  she  had  considered  a  part  of  her  domain.  For  this 
reason,  it  took  from  1776  to  1781  to  form  the  first  constitutional  imion  of  the 
states. 

Q 


226 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


One   funda- 
mental    and 
four    specific 
defects. 


Importance 
of  the  Con- 
federation. 


Beginnings 
of  the  con- 
stitutional 
convention. 


land  claims.  Scarcely  any  important  law,  however,  could 
be  passed  without  the  consent  of  nine  states.  To  pay  its 
expenses,  it  had  authority  to  borrow  money  or  issue  bills  of 
credit,  but  most  of  the  revenue  was  to  be  obtained  directly 
from  the  states,  each  contributing  the  amount  which  Con- 
gress thought  just. 

In  practice  Congress  was  left  at  the  mercy  of  the  states. 
This  was  due  to  the  great  fundamental  defect  of  the  Con- 
federation, namely  that  it  was  based  upon  state  sovereignty. 
It  was  due  also  to  four  more  important  specific  defects. 
These  were  (i)  the  failure  of  Congress  to  provide  revenue  for 
expenses,  (2)  the  lack  of  effective  authority  to  enforce  laws, 
(3)  the  inability  to  regulate  interstate  and  foreign  commerce, 
and  (4)  the  impossibility  of  remedying  these  defects  because 
no  amendment  could  be  passed  except  by  a  unanimous  vote 
of  the  states. 

If  we  compare  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation  with  the 
Second  Continental  Congress,  the  latter  seems  more  com- 
plete, but  when  we  consider  that  the  Continental  Congress 
was  exercising  war  powers  without  any  direct  legal  authority 
—  powers  that  in  time  of  peace  might  disappear  entirely  — 
we  can  realize  perhaps  that  the  Confederation  was  a  more 
perfect  union  than  the  one  existing  in  1776. 

207.  The  Constitutional  Convention.  —  The  need  of 
amendment  for  the  Articles  of  Confederation  led  first  to  the 
Annapolis  Conference  for  the  purpose  of  granting  more 
authority  over  interstate  commerce,  and  in  1787  to  a  con- 
stitutional convention  held  at  Philadelphia.  The  convention 
was  called  solely  for  the  purpose  of  revising  the  Articles  of 
Confederation,  and  without  any  idea  of  making  a  new 
national  constitution.  The  leaders  in  the  convention,  how- 
ever, realized  fully  that  a  constitution  based  upon  state 
sovereignty  could  never  be  satisfactory.  They  therefore 
proposed  at  the  outset  to  abandon  state  sovereignty  as  the 
basis  of  a  new  union.  Their  foresight,  wisdom,  and  courage 
in  taking  this  important  step  has  not  been  questioned  by 
any  succeeding  generation. 


DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION 


227 


At  the  beginning  of  its  sessions,  the  convention  took  under 
advisement  a  plan  for  a  type  of  national  government  entirely 
different  from  that  of  the  Confederation.  This  "  Virginia 
plan,"  drafted  largely  by  James  Madison,  favOred  a  Congress 
of  two  houses,  the  members  of  the  lower  house  to  be  chosen 
by  the  people,  and  those  of  the  upper  house  to  be  chosen  by 
the  lower  from  candidates  nominated  by  the  state  legisla- 
tures. This  Congress  was  to  have  very  broad  legislative 
power.  The  Virginia  plan  also  provided  for  an  executive 
department  and  a  national  judiciary} 

208.  Work  of  the  Convention.  —  With  little  opposition 
the  plan  for  a  Congress  of  two  houses  was  adopted.  At 
once  a  dispute  arose  between  the  large  states,  which  wished 
to  have  the  membership  in  both  houses  depend  on  popula- 
tion, and  the  small  states,  which  insisted  that  one  or  both 
houses  should  be  like  the  Congress  of  the  Confederation,  in 
which  each  state  had  one  vote.  A  bitter  debate  followed. 
It  was  settled  by  the  first  great  compromise,  known  as  the 
Connecticut  Compromise.  In  the  lower  house  representation 
was  to  be  according  to  population,  while  the  Senate  was  to  be 
composed  of  two  senators  from  each  state,  each  of  whom 
had  a  vote  of  his  own.^ 

The  question  at  once  arose.  How  should  people  be 
counted  for  representation  in  the  lower  house  of  Congress 
and  for  the  levying  of  direct  taxes,  which  was  also  to  be 
"  according  to  population  "  ?  The  southern  delegates  did 
not  wish  to  count  the  negroes  when  direct  taxes  were  paid, 
but  they  did  wish  them  to  be  enumerated  when  representa- 
tives were  appointed.  As  the  North  wanted  the  opposite  in 
both  cases,  a  compromise  was  reached  by  which  five  negroes 
were  counted  as  three  whites  when  reckoning  population  for 
either  direct  taxes  or  representation. 


Proposed  or- 
ganization of 
the  new  gov- 
ernment. 


Compromise 
over  repre- 
sentation   in 
Congress. 


The  three- 
fifths  com- 
promise. 


^  The  opponents  of  the  Virginia  plan  suggested  a  set  of  revised  Articles  of 
Confederation  which  are  known  as  the  "New  Jersey  plan."  This  provided  for 
a  Congress  of  one  house,  with  slightly  enlarged  powers,  and  for  a  separate  execu- 
tive and  a  system  of  national  courts. 

2  As  a  concession  to  the  larger  states  the  House  of  Representatives  was  al- 
lowed to  have  the  exclusive  right  to  introduce  measures  for  the  raising  of  revenue. 


228 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Commercial 
compromise. 


Amendment 
of  the  Con- 
stitution. 


The    con- 
vention 
closes   its 
sessions. 


Federalists 
and  Anti- 
Federalists. 


North  and  South  clashed  again  over  the  question  of  navi- 
gation acts  and  the  slave  trade.  In  the  third  and  last  com- 
promise the  South  agreed  to  allow  the  passage  of  navigation 
acts  by  an  ordinary  majority  in  each  house  of  Congress,  on 
condition,  first,  that  the  importation  of  slaves  should  not  be 
prohibited  prior  to  1808,  and  secondly,  that  exports  should 
never  be  taxed.^ 

In  order  that  the  Constitution  might  be  changed  when 
absolutely  necessary,  provision  was  made  that  amendments 
might  be  proposed  by  two  thirds  of  each  house  of  Congress 
or  by  a  convention  called  at  the  request  of  two  thirds  of  the 
States.  If  ratified  by  the  legislatures  or  conventions  in  three 
fourths  of  the  States,  these  amendments  were  to  be  added  to 
the  Constitution. 

209.  Adoption  of  the  Constitution.  —  When  its  sessions 
had  lasted  from  May  to  September,  the  convention  agreed 
upon  the  Constitution  as  we  have  it  now,  without  the  amend- 
ments. Since  it  had  been  impossible  to  revise  the  Articles 
of  Confederation  except  by  unanimous  vote,  the  convention 
agreed  that  the  Constitution  should  go  into  effect  between 
the  ratifying  states  as  soon  as  it  had  been  accepted  by  state 
conventions  in  nine  states. 

In  order  to  secure  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  mem- 
bers of  the  convention  and  their  friends  organized  themselves 
into  a  party  known  as  the  Federalists.  Their  opponents, 
who  probably  had  the  support  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
people  in  most  of  the  states,  were  known  as  the  Anti-Federal- 
ists. It  was  evident  at  once  that  the  small  states  had  been 
pacified  by  the  Connecticut  Compromise.  Practically  all  of 
them  ratified  the  Constitution  with  little  delay,  and  in  some 
cases  by  unanimous  votes.  In  three  of  the  larger  states, 
Massachusetts,  Virginia,  and  New  York,  ratification  was  dis- 
puted seriously  but  was  finally  secured.^ 


1  The  latter  was  considered  ii^  the  South  an  important  concession  because 
southern  exports  were  the  most  important  source  of  wealth  in  that  section. 

2  Two  states,  North  Carolina  and  Rhode  Island,  did  not  ratify  at  this  time. 
The  former  entered  the  Union  in  November,  1789,  and  the  latter  in  May,  1790. 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS  229 


The  Constitutional  Amendments 

210.  Need  of  Amendment.  —  It  was  neither  possible  nor   Social  and 
desirable   that   our   Constitution   or   national   government  industrial 
should  remain  unchanged  during  more  than  a  century  which  since  1787. 
has  brought  us  a  great  expansion  of  territory,  population, 

and  national  resources,  and  little  less  than  a  revolution  in  the 
means  of  transportation,  in  methods  of  doing  business,  and 
in  the  national  feeling  of  the  people.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
during  the  debates  of  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  one  of 
the  delegates  went  so  far  as  to  assert  boldly  that  no  one 
expected  the  Constitution  they  were  then  framing  would  be 
in  use  a  century  later.  Yet  so  well  did  "  the  Fathers  "do 
their  work  that  to-day  the  Constitution  of  1787,  with  only 
seventeen  amendments,  is  still  the  foundation  of  our  federal 
Union  and  of  our  national  government. 

We  must  not  suppose,  however,  that  the  Constitution  is  Character 
really  the  same  now  as  then.  Its  form  is  almost  identical  °^  consti- 
with  that  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  but  its  spirit  has  been  changes, 
modified  greatly.  In  1790  the  people  were  much  more 
attached  to  their  state  governments  than  they  were  to  that 
of  the  nation.  In  consequence,  the  national  government  was 
not  allowed  to  do  many  things  that  we  consider  perfectly 
proper,  although  nominally  Congress  had  almost  as  much 
power  then  as  now.  This  simply  means  that  many  of  the 
chief  changes  in  the  Constitution  since  1787  have  not  been 
made  by  constitutional  amendments  added  to  that  document, 
but  by  a  more  liberal  construction  of  the  powers  granted  to 
the  national  government  in  the  original  Constitution.  How 
the  powers  of  the  national  government  have  been  enlarged 
by  a  free  interpretation  of  the  Constitution  and  by  usage, 
will  be  explained  briefly  after  examining  the  seventeen  regular 
amendments. 

211.  The  National  Bill  of  Rights.  —  The  first  ten  amend-  The  first 
ments,  proposed  by  Congress  in  1789  and  adopted  before  eight  amend- 
1 791,  provided  a  Bill  of  Rights.     We  may  mention  three 

classes  of  these  rights :  (i)  those  which  prohibit  Congress  from 


230 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Ninth  and 
tenth  amend- 
ments. 


Twelfth 
amendment. 


Need  of  con- 
stitutional 
amendments 
after   the 
CivU    War. 


National 
citizenship ; 
the  right  to 
vote. 


restricting  ordinary  individual  rights,  such  as  religious  liberty, 
freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press,  the  right  to  petition  the 
government,  and  the  right  to  bear  arms.  (2)  Amendments 
five  (§126)  to  eight  give  accused  persons  the  right  of  a  speedy 
jury  trial  with  every  opportunity  to  prove  their  innocence. 
We  should  notice  particularly  that  no  one  of  these  ten  amend- 
ments attempted  to  prohibit  the  states  from  doing  these 
things,  for  they  are  restrictions  on  the  national  government 
only. 

(3)  The  ninth  and  tenth  amendments  provide  in  gen- 
eral terms  that  the  people  shall  have  all  rights  and  the 
states  all  powers  which  have  not  been  expressly  conferred  by 
the  Constitution  on  the  national  government  or  prohibited 
by  it  expressly  to  the  people  or  the  states. 

According  to  the  eleventh  amendment  no  state  could  be  sued 
by  a  citizen  of  another  state  or  a  foreign  country  without  its 
own  consent.  The  twelfth  amendment  changed  slightly 
the  method  of  electing  the  President.  It  provides  that  there 
shall  be  separate  presidential  electors  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  whereas  the  original  document  allowed  each 
elector  to  cast  two  votes  for  President. 

212.  The  War  Amendments.  —  Because  the  unwritten 
constitution  had  been  developed  to  some  extent  before  the 
Civil  War,  no  additional  amendments  were  adopted  until 
1865.  At  the  close  of  that  great  struggle,  however,  it  was 
necessary  to  specify  in  the  Constitution  the  exact  status  of 
the  negroes.  By  the  thirteenth  amendment  slavery  was  pro- 
hibited throughout  the  United  States. 

The  fourteenth  amendment  made  the  negroes  citizens  and 
cleared  up  disputes  in  regard  to  national  citizenship  in  this 
phrase,  "  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United 
States,  and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens 
of  the  United  States  and  of  the  state  wherein  they  reside."  ^ 

^  In  addition  the  fourteenth  amendment  prohibited  the  states  from  abridg- 
ing the  privileges  and  immunities  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  declared 
still  further  that  no  state  may  "deprive  any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property, 
without  due  process  of  law;  nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the 
equal  protection  of  the  laws." 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  AMENDMENTS 


231 


The  fifteenth  amendment  aimed  to  grant  the  ballot  to  negroes 
on  exactly  the  same  terms  as  whites.^ 

213.  Recent  Amendments.  —  Another  long  interval 
elapsed  before  any  more  amendments  were  added  to  the 
Constitution.  In  191 3,  however,  a  sixteenth  amendment 
was  adopted,  which  permitted  Congress  to  levy  an  income 
tax.       Three     months     5,^.  r«..  m.  


Sirlj-liMl  «o»jrf$s  of  {\t  Sniltli  Stilts  of  gmtrita; 


at  the  ^ir»t 


JOINT  KESOLtmON 

t  CniMiUlim  o(  Ibt  1 


0/  AmeriM  »  Catfrtm  oMmMM  (lwo-th,rd,  of  mil  H:mu  c^mcurn., 
UminJ.  TbU  the  lollowinx  •tlcU  U  prnpawi  u  •»  •mrndxwnt  to  th. 
ConUiUlioii  of  the  Unitrd  Slain,  vhicli.  whrn  ntilini  by  Ihr  IrinsUuirn  of 
thrw-lootth.  o(  the  •rtm\  Suilf.,  doll  br  ..liil  to  til  hiteiili  and  purposf.  ai  a 
put  ol  Ihr  Cooatitutioti 

"Amcu  XVI  The  CongTMB  ihall  have  power  to  Uy  and  collert  laiet 
00  UKontes,  fiom  whatever  anorrr  derived,  without  apportiooment  among  Ihe 
aeveeal  Sutea,  and  wilhonl  lejjard  lu  any  census  or  enumeration." 


J^(^^^^:^y*^^ 


later  the  seventeenth 
amendment  was  adopt- 
ed. This  changed  the 
method  of  electing 
United  States  senators. 
Popular  election  was 
substituted  for  election 
by  legislatures.  In  1920 
the  eighteenth  amend- 
ment provided  for  na- 
tional prohibition. 

Undoubtedly  to-day 
the  process  of  amend- 
ing the  Constitution  is 
too  difficult.  While  it 
is  true  that  the  Consti- 
tution is  continually 
being  adapted  to  mod- 
ern needs  through 
changes  in  the  unwrit- 
ten constitution,  it  is 
necessary  in  some  cases 
that  the  written  Constitution  itself  be  modified,  as  is 
proved  by  these  recent  amendments.  That  the  small  num- 
ber of  actual  changes  in  the  written  Constitution  has  been 
due  to  the  difficulty  of  amendment  rather  than  to  lack  of 
popular    desire  for   change   is    shown    by    the    fact    that 

^  "The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be  denied  or 
abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any  state  on  account  of  race,  color  or  pre- 
vious condition  of  servitude." 


.toe-. 


mrlfj 


The  Sixteenth  Amendment. 


Sixteenth 
and  seven- 
teenth 
amendments 
(1913). 


Practical 
difficulty  of 
securing  con- 
stitutional 
amendments. 


232 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


nearly  two  thousand  amendments  have  been  proposed  in 
Congress.^ 


Definition  of 
the  unwritten 
constitution. 


Important 
character- 
istics of  the 
unwritten 
constitution. 


The  Written  and  Unwritten  Constitutions 

214.   What  the  Unwritten  Constitution  is  Like.  —  As  the 

written  Constitution  is  brief  and  does  not  go  into  detail,  it  is 
modified  and  supplemented  in  a  great  many  respects  by 
statutes  and  customs  dealing  with  important  principles  of 
government,  and  by  the  interpretation  of  the  written  Con- 
stitution by  public  officials,  particularly  through  the  courts. 
We  may  say,  therefore,  that  the  unwritten  Constitution  in- 
cludes all  of  the  statutes,  judicial  decisions,  and  usages  which 
increase  the  powers  of  the  central  government  as  defined  in 
the  Constitution,  which  alter  the  methods  proposed  by  the 
Constitution,  or  which  modify  the  relations  existing  between 
the  nation  and  the  states. 

The  most  important  features  of  the  unwritten  constitu- 
tion may  be  stated  as  follows,  (i)  The  whole  body  of  law 
and  custom  supplementing  the  Constitution  has  greatly  broadened 
that  instrument  and  expanded  the  powers  exercised  under  it. 
(2)  New  powers  which  are  not  forbidden  by  the  Constitution 
and  do  not  interfere  with  the  work  of  the  states  have  been 
assumed  and  exercised  by  our  national  government  without 
express  authority  of  the  written  Constitution.  (3)  The 
national  government  has  become  essentially  a  democratic  gov- 
ernment^ with  its  principal  ofiicials  selected  by  the  people 
of  the  nation  and  its  departments  directly  responsible  to 
the  popular  will.  This  change  has  been  accomplished  al- 
most solely  by  alterations  in  the  state  laws  regarding  suf- 
frage. (4)  The  unwritten  constitution  determines  the 
real  nature  of  our  federal  system  of  government^  since  it  de- 
fines the  spheres  of  activities  of  the  state  and  nation  and 

1  Our  system  of  amendment  is  not  only  too  difficult  and  cumbersome  but  its 
fairness  is  only  apparent.  It  might  be  possible,  through  the  cooperation  of  the 
less  populous  states,  to  defeat  an  amendment  by  the  vote  of  one  fifteenth  of 
the  American  people  and  to  pass  an  amendment  by  the  vote  of  states  whose 
population  contained  less  than  one  half  of  the  people  of  the  whole  coimtry. 


WRITTEN  AND   UNWRITTEN  CONSTITUTIONS      233 

shows  the  working  relations  of  the  two  sets  of  govern- 
ments. (5)  Secession  from  the  union  is  not  possible^  although 
the  subject  is  not  mentioned  in  the  written  Constitution. 
In  the  following  sections  we  shall  compare  some  provisions 
of  the  written  Constitution  with  similar  subjects  in  the  un- 
written constitution. 

215.  Powers  of  Congress.  —  According  to  the  written  Original 
Constitution,  Congress  has  power  to  levy  different  kinds  of  Ppw^''^  ^^ 
taxes,  to  borrow  money,  and  to  regulate  foreign  and  inter- 
state commerce.  It  cares  for  many  foreign  relations  of  the 
United  States,  has  the  right  to  declare  war,  and  to  raise  an 
army  and  a  navy.  It  may  coin  money,  make  rules  for 
naturahzation,  and  perform  other  acts  permitted  by  the 
Constitution.  In  order  that  it  might  not  be  hampered  by 
too  narrow  an  interpretation  of  its  powers,  it  has  the  right, 
granted  in  the  ''  elastic  clause,"  ^  "  to  make  all  laws  which 
shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for  carrying  into  execution  the 
foregoing  powers,  and  all  other  powers  vested  by  this  Con- 
stitution in  the  government  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any 
department  or  officer  thereof." 

The  "  elastic  clause  "  has  enabled  Congress  to  make,  upon  Enlargement 
subjects  not  directly  mentioned  in  the  Constitution,  laws  ?^  ^^^  °"^" 

1-11  1  T     1  1       •  r     1  •  ^^^^  powers 

which  have  added  greatly  to  the  authority  of  the  national  of  Congress, 
government.  The  creation  of  the  national  bank  in  1791  was 
the  first  good  example  of  this  extension,  or  of  *'  loose  con- 
struction "  of  the  Constitution.  The  embargoes  (1807-1811), 
the  levying  of  protective  tariffs,  different  forms  of  free  mail 
delivery,  and  public  land  grants  to  states  or  railways  are 
instances  of  an  expansion  of  authority  which  necessarily  is 
becoming  greater  with  national  development. 

Our  highest  courts  have  held  that  since  the  United  States  New  powers 
is  sovereign  and  Congress  is  its  lawmaking  body.  Congress  °^  Congress, 
has  the  right  to  make  those  laws  which  the  sovereign  nation 
needs.     The  regulation  of  industrial  corporations,  provisions 
for  the  promotion  of  agriculture,  the  annexation  of  territory 
by  Congress  as  in  the  case  of  Texas  and  Hawaii,  and  absolute 

1  Constitution,  Art.  I,  Sec.  8, 1.  18. 


234 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The  election 
and  term  of 
the    Presi- 
dent. 


Powers  of  the 
President  ac- 
cording to 
the  written 
Constitu- 
tion. 


Changes   in 
administra- 
tion and 
powers. 


control  of  colonies  show  that  Congress  has  exercised  these 
rights.  The  issuance  of  paper  money  by  that  body  ui  time 
of  peace,  a  power  which  the  "  Fathers  *'  did  not  intend  to 
grant  Congress,  has  been  upheld  unequivocally  by  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States. 

216.  The  Presidency.  —  The  members  of  the  constitu- 
tional convention  of  1787  decided,  after  protracted  debate, 
that  the  President  should  be  chosen  for  a  term  of  four  years 
and  be  reeligible  to  the  office.  They  provided  that  there 
should  be  presidential  electors  equal  in  number  to  the  sena- 
tors and  representatives,  each  of  whom  should  cast  two 
ballots  for  President.  By  the  Twelfth  Amendment  each  elector 
was  forced  to  cast  a  ballot  for  President  and  a  second  for 
Vice-President.  The  ''  Fathers  "  intended  that  these  elec- 
tors should  use  their  own  judgment  in  selecting  the  chief 
executive,  but  only  the  first  two  Presidents  were  chosen  in 
that  way,  and  in  fact  ever  since  1800  presidential  electors 
have  been  party  men,  now  elected  by  popular  vote  within  their 
states,  who  must  vote  for  the  candidates  chosen  by  their 
respective  party  conventions.  The  written  Constitution 
places  no  limitation  on  the  number  of  terms  a  President  may 
serve,  but  custom  in  the  form  of  the  "  third  term  tradition  " 
may  be  said  to  have  fixed  eight  years  as  the  maximum  period 
for  ordinary  Presidents. 

According  to  the  Constitution,  the  President  has  the  right 
to  enforce  national  civil  laws,  and  he  is  commander-in-chief 
of  the  army  and  navy.  He  has  the  right  of  sending  ambassa- 
dors, of  making  treaties,  and  of  appointing  officials  with  the 
consent  of  the  Senate,  the  right  to  veto  bills  passed  by  Con- 
gress, and  many  other  less  important  powers. 

In  carrying  out  his  wishes  every  President  is  aided  by 
executive  officials,  ten  of  whom  form  an  advisory  cabinet,  a 
body  not  mentioned  in  the  written  Constitution.  That 
document  does  not  mention  the  subject  of  removals  from 
office.  Except  during  the  twenty  years  between  1867  and 
1886  the  unwritten  constitution  has  left  the  President  sole 
power  of  removal  as  well  as  appointment.     He  has  thus  been 


WRITTEN  AND   UNWRITTEN   CONSTITUTIONS      235 

able  to  make  himself  the  real  head  of  the  national  adminis- 
tration (§229),  since  all  national  executive  officers  are  respon- 
sible to  him.  By  virtue  of  their  right  to  make  treaties 
several  Presidents,  beginning  with  Jefferson  in  1803,  have 
acquired  vast  territories,  although  the  written  Constitution 
is  silent  on  that  subject. 

217.   The  National  Courts.  —  The  Constitution  provides  The  national 
for  a  supreme  court  and  such  inferior  courts  as  Consrress  may  ^^^^^,  ^^^ 

tneir  ludces. 

deem  necessary,  all  judges  holding  office  during  good  be- 
havior. Congress  has  had,  therefore,  opportunity  of  con- 
troUing  the  courts  through  its  right  to  increase  or  decrease 
the  number  of  judges  of  the  highest  court  and  of  changing 
the  number  and  powers  of  the  lower  courts.  In  fact  when 
one  political  party  created  new  and  unnecessary  national 
courts  in  order  to  give  positions  to  its  partisans,  the  opposing 
party,  as  soon  as  it  came  into  power,  abolished  the  courts. 
As  Schouler  says,  it  was  unconstitutional  to  remove  the 
judges  from  the  bench,  and  so  the  bench  was  removed  from 
the  judges. 

The  written  Constitution  gives  to  the  national  courts  juris-  The  juris- 
diction over  all  cases  "arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  diction  of  the 

courts. 

laws  of  the  United  States  and  treaties  made,  or  which  shall 
be  made,  under  their  authority."  Many  conservative  people 
beUeved  that  the  courts  could  not  decide  the  meaning  of 
any  phrase  in  the  Constitution,  but  Chief- Justice  Marshall 
proved  that  the  Supreme  Court  could  not  decide  cases  aris- 
ing under  the  Constitution  without  interpreting  the  Constitu- 
tion itself.  By  doing  this  he  estabhshed  a  principle  of  the 
unwritten  constitution  which  was  largely  responsible  for  the 
great  development  of  national  authority  noted  in  the  preced- 
ing sections ;  namely,  that  the  people  of  the  nation,  through 
the  Supreme  Court,  were  the  final  interpreters  of  the  powers 
which  the  national  government  might  exercise.  At  the  very 
beginning  of  our  history  as  a  nation,  therefore,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  established  its  right  to  determine 
when  the  other  departments  of  the  government  had  exceeded 
their  powers.    The  court,  in  addition,  could  decide  the  all- 


22,6 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


important  question  of  our  history  —  what  is  the  relation  of 
the  states  to  the  nation  and  to  the  national  government  —  a 
relationship  that  is  discussed  in  the  next  topic. 


Provisions  of 
the    Con- 
stitution. 


Five  classes 
of  powers. 


Character  of 
our  federal 
system. 


The  Nation  and  the  States 

218.  The  Classes  of  Governmental  Powers.  —  We  find 
that  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and  its  amend- 
ments define  quite  clearly  the  duties  of  the  national  govern- 
ment and  suggest  those  left  in  charge  of  the  states.  In  that 
instrument,  the  attempt  is  made  to  grant  the  government  of 
the  United  States  all  powers  which  the  states  could  not 
satisfactorily  exercise  because  united  action  was  necessary. 
From  the  nature  of  the  case,  these  powers  belonging  to  the 
United  States  government  were  considered  delegated,  and 
were  therefore  enumerated.  Those  left  to  the  states  were  to 
include  all  others,  and  are  frequently  called  residuary  powers. 

It  is  possible  to  distinguish  jive  classes  of  governmental 
powers: 

I.  Those  granted  exclusively  to  the  national  government 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

II.  Those  reserved  exclusively  to  the  states. 

III.  Those  powers  which  may  be  exercised  by  either  the 
national  government  or  the  states,  called  concurrent. 

IV.  Powers  denied  to  the  national  government  by  the 
Constitution. 

V.  Powers  denied  to  the  states  by  the  Constitution. 

219.  The  Interdependence  of  the  National  and  State 
Governments.  —  By  the  adoption  of  the  national  Constitu- 
tion in  1787,  the  people  of  the  United  States  created  2i  federal 
system  oj  two  spheres  of  government,  the  one  national,  including 
all  powers  which  can  be  properly  exercised  only  by  a  single 
government  for  the  whole  people,  the  other  state,  including  all 
other  powers  of  government.  Under  existing  arrangements, 
the  national  government  and  the  system  of  state  governments 
are  dependent  upon  each  other,  for  each  does  its  share  in 
governing  the  country,  but  neither  can  become  subordinate 


NATION  AND   STATES  237 

to  the  other,  for  both  are  controlled  directly  by  the  people 
of  the  entire  Union.  To  perform  the  task  assigned  it,  each 
is  complete  within  itself  for  certain  purposes^  hut  incomplete 
without  the  other  for  the  great  purpose  it  subserves  —  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  American  people. 

220.  The  Relation  of  the  State  and  National  Constitutions.   Supple- 
—  When   considering   the   constitutions   of   the   states,   we  ™^enta^ 
noticed  that  they  must  be  changed  if  they  conflict  with  the 
national  Constitution.     The  reason  for  this  is  really  very 
simple :  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  just  as  much 

a  part  of  the  fundamental  law  of  every  state  as  is  the  con- 
stitution of  that  state.  Any  state  constitution  is  intended 
to  supplement  that  of  the  nation  within  that  state,  since  the 
United  States  Constitution  is  intentionally  silent  regarding 
the  greater  part  of  the  state's  government  and  work.  The 
law  of  any  state,  and  of  the  states  taken  as  a  whole,  consequently, 
includes  five  things:  (i)  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States ; 
(2)  laws  passed  by  Congress  in  accordance  with  the  Consti- 
tution; (3)  treaties  made  by  the  national  government; 
(4)  the  constitution  of  the  state ;  (5)  the  laws  made  by  the 
state  legislature.  That  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
is  a  real  part  of  the  law  of  every  state  may  be  shown  by  the 
constitutional  requirement  that  all  members  of  the  state 
legislature,  and  all  executive  and  judicial  officers  of  the  state, 
shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirmation  to  support  the  national 
Constitution. 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  these  laws  and  constitu-  Conflict  of 
tions  supplement  each  other ;  but  they  may  conflict.  In  that  constitu- 
case,  the  courts  are  authorized  to  set  aside  one  of  the  con- 
fficting  articles.  Such  an  article  in  the  state  law  must  yield 
to  any  of  the  others,  and  an  article  in  a  state  constitution 
must,  give  way  to  the  laws  of  the  nation,  the  treaties,  and  the 
United  States  Constitution ;  for  these  three  are  "  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  land,  and  the  judges  of  every  State  shall 
be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of 
the  state  to  the  contrary,  notwithstanding." 

221.  The  Unity  of  Our  Federal  System  is  emphasized  in 


238  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

The  execu-      the  working  relations  of  the  national  and  state  governments. 

tion  of  law.  Each  has  its  own  duties,  which  with  few  exceptions  are 
different  from  those  of  the  other,  and  which  it  performs 
through  its  own  officials.  United  States  laws  are  enforced 
by  national  executive  officers  and  interpreted  by  national 
courts,  side  by  side  with  the  laws  of  the  states  carried  into 
effect  by  officials  of  the  states.  Every  person  within  the 
boundaries  of  a  state  is  subject,  therefore,  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  state  and  the  national  governments.  He  renders  obedience 
to  both,  because  both  are  doing  work  assigned  to  them  by 
the  people  of  the  whole  Union.  If,  by  any  possibility,  both 
try  to  force  him  to  obey  laws  which  relate  to  the  same  sub- 
ject, but  which  are  incompatible,  he  must  learn,  first  of  all, 
whether  the  national  government  has  authority  to  make  the 
law  which  it  wishes  him  to  obey.  If  it  has  this  right,  he 
must  obey  it  without  question ;  if  it  exceeded  its  authority 
in  passing  the  law,  he  must  obey  the  state  officials.  Obedi- 
ence may  be  rendered  to  officials  belonging  to  the  state  gov- 
ernment or  to  national  officials ;  in  reality  it  is  rendered  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  who  are  represented  by  both 
sets  of  these  officials.  In  other  words,  a  citizen's  allegiance 
is  not  divided,  for  it  is  due  to  the  people  of  the  whole  nation, 
who  are  sovereign,  and  to  them  alone. 

General  References 

Hinsdale,  The  American  Government,  §§  98-165,  223-233,  419-445, 
623-631,  644-652,  655-658,  763-772. 

Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State,  §§  77-105, 120,  212,  228-254,  554- 
562. 

Bryce,  TJie  American  Commonwealth,  abridged  ed.,  224-284. 

Beard,  American  Government  and  Politics,  1-77. 

WUloughby,  The  American  Constitutional  System. 

Topics 

Sources  of  the  Constitution:  Curtis,  in  Winsor,  Narrative  and 
Critical  History  of  America,  VII,  237-246;  Johnson,  A.,  in  N&w  Prince- 
ton Revi&do,  IV  (1887),  175  et  seq.;  Bryce,  The  American  Commonwealth, 
abridged  ed.,  Chaps.  II-IV ;  Taylor,  English  Constitution,  I,  1-79 ; 
Robinson,  J.  H.,  in  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  I,  203-243. 


THE  NATIONAL  CONSTITUTION  239 

Last  Two  Compromises  (1787):  Fiske,  Critical  Period,  262-267; 
301-305 ;  McLaughlin,  Confederation  and  Constitution,  260-265 ;  Cam- 
bridge Modern  History,  VII,  278-283. 

The  Nation  and  the  States  :  Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State, 
197-223 ;  Beard,  American  Government  and  Politics,  145-165  ;  Bryce,  The 
American  Commonwealth,  4th  ed.,  I,  312-359;  Reinsch,  Readings  in 
American  Federal  Government,  731-825  ;  Willoughby,  The  American  Con- 
stitutional System. 

Studies 

1.  Stamp  Act  Congress.    Howard,  Preliminaries  of  the  Revolution, 

145-149,  154-157. 

2.  First  Continental  Congress.  Wilson,  History  of  the  American 
People,  II,  193-201. 

3.  Character  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Tyler,  M.  C,  in 
North  American  Review,  163  (1896),  i-io. 

4.  Nature  of  the  Confederation.     Fiske,  Critical  Period,  98-101. 

5.  Objections  to  the  Constitution.  McLaughlin,  Confederation  and 
Constitution,  277-281,  287-288. 

6.  The  development  of  the  Constitution.  Bryce,  The  American  Com- 
monwealth, abridged  ed.,  271-284. . 

7.  Constitutional  changes  during  the  Civil  War  period.  Ashley, 
American  History,  §§  383-387. 

8.  The  advantages  of  federal  systems.  Ashley,  American  Federal 
State,  200-204. 

9.  The  working  relations  of  the  national  and  state  governments. 
Bryce,  The  American  Commonwealth,  abridged  ed.,  233-242. 


Questions 

1.  Make  a  table  comparing  the  unions  before  1775,  stating  cause  of 
each,  number  of  colonies  represented,  permanence,  work  accomplished, 
and  degree  of  union  represented. 

2.  Compare  the  early  unions  with  the  second  Continental  Congress 
and  the  Confederation  in  respect  to  success  as  a  union,  organization  of 
central  government,  powers  actually  exercised,  and  degree  of  real  union. 

3.  Name  one  general  and  four  specific  defects  of  the  Confederation. 
Was  it  possible  to  form  a  new  satisfactory  union  on  the  basis  of  state 
sovereignty?    What  did  the  constitutional  convention  of  1787  do? 

4.  Look  up  and  answer  the  following  questions  and  points  from  your 
copy  of  the  Constitution. 

a.  What  is  the  difference  between  the  qualifications  of  senators  and 
representatives?     (Constitution,  Art.  I,  §§  2,  3.) 

b.  What  is  the  process  of  legislation?     (Art.  I,  §  7.) 


240  THE  NEW   CIVICS 

c.  Name  the  chief  powers  of  Congress.  (Art.  I,  §  8.)  Why  is  the 
name  "elastic  clause"  a  good  one  for  clause  i8,  §  8,  of  Art.  I? 

d.  What  restrictions  are  placed  upon  Congress  in  spending  money? 
(Constitution,  Art.  I,  §  9,  cl.  7 ;    §  8,  cl.  12.) 

e.  Give  the  chief  prohibitions  placed  upon  the  states.     (Art.  I,  §  10.) 
/.  Who  may  be  elected  President?     (Art.  II,  §  i,  cl.  5.)    How  is  the 

President  chosen?     (Amendment  XII.) 

g.  May  the  President  pardon  a  person  guilty  of  treason?  How  are 
treaties  made?     (Art.  II,  §  2.) 

h.  What  national  courts  are  created  solely  by  law  of  Congress? 
(Cf.  §  23  with  Constitution,  Art.  Ill,  §1.) 

i.  Why  are  all  state  officials  compelled  to  take  oath  to  support  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States?  (Constitution,  Art.  VI,  §  i,  cl.  2; 
cf.  §  219  of  this  book.) 

5.  Quote  the  preamble  of  the  Constitution.  Quote  the  elastic  clause. 
Quote  the  first  sentence  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment. 

6.  In  what  ways  may  the  Constitution  be  amended?  (See  if  you 
can  find  f6ur  ways.)  What  interval  of  time  elapsed  between  the  Twelfth 
and  Thirteenth  amendments?  between  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth 
amendments?    Is  the  method  of  amendment  too  easy?  too  difficult? 

7.  Give  a  definition  of  the  unwritten  constitution.  Show  how  the 
unwritten  constitution  has  changed  either  the  composition  or  powers  of 
the  legislative  branch  of  the  national  government;  of  the  executive 
department ;  of  the  national  courts. 

8.  What  five  kinds  of  law  make  up  the  law  of  any  state?  Why  is 
every  person  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  two  sets  of  governments  if  his 
allegiance  is  not  divided? 


CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT 

Congress 

222.  The  American  Congress.  —  The  Congress  of  the  Composition 
.  United  States,  like  the  legislatures  of  the  states,  is  composed  ^  ^^^  ^^^ 
of  two  houses,  one  of  which  is  much  larger  than  the  other. 
UnHke  the  houses  of  the  state  legislatures,  those  of  Congress 
are  quite  different  in  character,  as  the  members  of  the 
Senate,  or  upper  house,  are  supposed  to  represent  the  states, 
whereas  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  are 
chosen  by  the  people  of  the  nation,  from  districts  of  nearly 
equal  population.  The  term  of  office  of  the  senators  is  six 
years,  one  third  of  them  retiring  every  two  years,  thus  mak- 
ing the  Senate  a  continuous  body.  The  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  are  chosen  for  a  period  of  two  years. 

According  to  the  original  Constitution,  the  senators  were  Election  of 
elected  by  the  state  legislatures.^    As  this  did  not  meet  the  senators, 
twentieth  century  demand  for  more  popular  representation 
in  the  making  of  laws,  the  Seventeenth  Amendment  in  19 13 
provided  that  senators  shall  be  elected  by  popular  vote. 

The  election  of  members  of  the  lower  house  occurs  on  the   Election  of 
regular  election  day,  the  Tuesday  after  the  first  Monday  of   members  of 
November  in  the  even  numbered  years.     According  to  the  house. 
American  custom,  no  one  except  a  resident  of  the  district 
for  which  the  member  is  chosen  may  be  selected  as  a  con-. 
gressman.2    Since  there  is  no  national  suffrage  law,  each 

^  According  to  the  Constitution,  no  one  may  be  elected  senator,  unless  he  is 
at  least  30  years  of  age,  has  been  g  years  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  at 
the  time  of  election  is  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  for  which  he  is  chosen. 

2  No  one  can  be  elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives  who  is  not  at  least 
25  years  of  a^e,  has  not  been  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  7  years,  and  is  not 
at  the  time  of  his  election  an  inhabitant  of  the  state  in  which  he  is  chosen. 
R  241 


242 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Long  and 
short  regular 
sessions. 


The  houses 
of  Congress. 
—  Privileges 
and  disabili- 
ties of  mem- 
bers. 


Compensa- 
tion of  con- 
gressmen. 


state  decides  who  may  vote  for  senators  and  representatives, 
as  well  as  for  electors  for  the  President. 

223.  Sessions  and  Organization  of  Congress.  —  Once 
in  two  years,  when  one  House  of  Representatives  gives  place 
to  a  new  house,  we  have  a  new  Congress.  For  example, 
the  64th  Congress  lasted  from  March  4,  191 5  to  March  4, 
191 7,  being  replaced  on  the  second  date  by  the  65th.  Each 
Congress  has  two  regular  sessions,  each  of  which  begins  on 
the  first  Monday  of  December.  The  first  session  may  con- 
tinue indefinitely  into  the  following  summer,  and  is  therefore 
called  the  long  session.  The  second,  or  short  session,  ex- 
pires by  limitation  on  the  4th  of  March  after  it  begins  its 
work.  It  is  unfortunate  that  a  period  of  thirteen  months 
should  elapse  between  the  election  of  congressmen  and  the 
first  regular  session  which  they  attend. 

Special  sessions  of  Congress  may  be  called  only  by  the 
President.  Each  house  controls  its  internal  organization, 
being  authorized  by  the  Constitution  to  make  its  own  rules, 
elect  its  own  ofiicers,  decide  who  are  elected  members  in 
case  of  dispute,  punish  members  for  disorderly  behavior, 
and  compel  the  attendance*  of  a  quorum  to  do  business. 
Members  of  Congress  have  numerous  special  privileges. 
They  are  "  in  all  cases  except  treason,  felony,  and  breach  of 
the  peace  privileged  from  arrest  during  their  attendance 
at  the  session  of  their  respective  houses  and  in  going  to  and 
returning  from  the  same,  and  for  any  speech  or  debate  in 
either  house  they  shall  not  be  questioned  in  any  other  place.'' 
They  are  subject  also  to  certain  disabilities,  particularly 
being  debarred  from  appointment  to  any  ofiice  which  has 
been  created  or  the  salary  of  which  has  been  increased  during 
the  term  of  office  for  which  they  have  last  been  elected. 

Members  of  Congress  receive  a  salary  of  $7500  a  year, 
traveling  expenses,  "  mileage  "  of  twenty  cents  a  mile,  going 
and  returning  by  the  nearest  route,  stationery,  and  extra 
compensation  for  clerks,  besides  large  numbers  of  govern- 
ment pubHcations,  and  free  delivery  of  mail  upon  public 
business.    Yet  with  all  these  perquisites  of  office,  our  con- 


CONGRESS 


243 


gressmen  find  expenses  in  Washington  so  heavy  that  few- 
business  men  can  afford  the  luxury  of  holding  the  position. 
The  shortsightedness  of  this  policy  is  evident. 

224.  Special  Characteristics  of  the  Senate.  —  On  account 
of  its  small  size  and  its  semi-permanent  character,  the  Sen- 
ate is  able  to  discuss  pubhc  business  much  more  directly 
than  is  possible  in  the  large  and  more  unwieldy  House  of 
Representatives.  It  has  been  therefore  more  powerful  than 
the  House  during  most  of  our  history.  This  is  especially  due 
to  three  things :  first,  the  more  permanent  character  of  the 
Senate ;  secondly,  its  better  organization ;  and  thirdly,  the 
patronage  which  it  possesses  through  the  right  to  confirm 
appointments  made  by  the  President. 

The  Senate  is  unlike  the  House  in  the  organization  of  its 
committees,  for  the  senatorial  committees  are  really  perma- 
nent organizations.  In  case  the  chairman  of  any  com- 
mittee* resigns,  he  is  succeeded  as  chairman  by  the  com- 
mitteeman from  his  party  who  has  seen  the  greatest  length  of 
service  on  that  committee.  This  illustrates  the  fact  that 
in  the  Senate  "  seniority  "  is  a  fixed  rule.^  ♦ 

The  Senate,  being  small,  spends  a  large  part  of  its  time  in 
really  discussing  public  questions ;  it  was  not  willing  until 
191 7  to  sacrifice  its  own  dignity  and  restrict  debate.  By  a 
two-thirds  vote  it  can  now  stop  discussion  of  any  matter. 

The  special  powers  of  the  Senate  are  four  in  number. 
It  confirms  presidential  appointments,  ratifies  treaties, 
tries  impeachment  cases,^  and  elects  a  Vice-President  when 
the  electoral  college  fails  to  do  so. 


Three  rea- 
sons for  the 
Senate  being 
powerful. 


Senatorial 
committees. 


Conserva- 
tism and 
dignity  of 
the  Senate. 


1  The  presiding  officer  of  the  United  States  Senate  is  the  Vice-President  of 
the  United  States,  who  is  not  a  member  of  that  body.  He  takes  no  part  in  the 
discussions,  and  cannot  vote  unless  there  is  a  tie.  However,  the  Senate  has  in 
addition  a  president  pro  tempore,  who  is  a  senator  chosen  by  the  Senate.  The 
president  pro  tem.  presides  in  case  of  the  death  or  absence  of  the  Vice-President. 

2  The  Senate  has  the  right  to  sit  as  a  court  and  try  any  "civil  officer"  of  the 
United  States  government  who  is  impeached  by  the  House  of  Representatives 
for  "treason,  bribery,  or  other  high  crimes  or  misdemeanors."  A  two-thirds 
vote  is  required  for  conviction.  This  power  has  been  used  only  eight  times 
in  all,  with  but  two  convictions.  By  far  the  most  interesting  trial  by  the  Senate 
was  that  of  Andrew  Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States,  in  1868. 


244 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Senatorial 
power  of 
confirming 
presidential 
appoint- 
ments. 


Influence  of 
the  Senate  in 
the  making 
of  treaties. 


Size  of  com- 
mittees and 
special  pow- 
ers of  the 
House. 


Debate  and 
lawmaking 
in  the  House. 


A  large  part  of  the  authority  and  influence  of  the  Senate 
is  derived  from  its  power  to  confirm  all  important  appoint- 
ments made  by  the  President.  Because  of  the  double  system 
of  choosing  officials  (§  233)  a  custom  has  developed  called 
senatorial  courtesy,  senators  ordinarily  voting  to  confirm 
one  another's  appointees.  This  procedure  leaves  with  the 
senators  the  actual  selection  of  most  persons  holding  national 
offices  within  their  states. 

Treaties  are  made  by  the  President  through  the  Secretary 
of  State  (§  236),  but  they  do  not  take  effect  until  approved 
by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate.  The  Senate  is  a  real  power  in 
treaty  making,  as  it  never  hesitates  to  amend  any  articles  or 
reject  an  entire  treaty.  When  discussing  presidential  appoint- 
ments or  treaties,  the  Senate  goes  into  executive  session,  the 
doors  are  closed,  and  the  proceedings  remain  a  secret. 

225.  Special  Characteristics  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives. —  The  larger  branch  of  Congress,  called  the  House 
of  Representatives,  is  composed  of  nearly  450  members. 
Because  it  is  large,  much  less  business  is  transacted  within 
the  house  proper  than  in  the  Senate.  It  depends  very  much 
more  upon  committees  than  does  the  smaller  chamber.  Be- 
cause it  was  originally  intended  to  be  and  still  is  the  more 
truly  representative  branch  of  Congress,  it  has  three  special 
powers.  It  originates  all  bills  for  the  raising  of  revenue 
(§  i53)>  elects  a  President  in  case  the  electoral  college  fails 
to  make  a  choice  (§  230),  and  brings  articles  of  impeachment 
against  any  civil  officer  for  treason  or  for  high  misdemeanors 
in  office.  Both  the  House  and  the  Senate  have  separate  build- 
ings with  offices  for  members  and  numerous  committee  rooms. 

Many  more  bills  are  introduced  in  the  House  than  in  the 
Senate,  because  there  are  many  more  members  who  have 
favorite  interests.  In  the  House  the  time  for  the  consider- 
ation of  measures  is  arranged  with  great  care  by  the  powerful 
Committee  on  Rules.^    This  Committee  is  now  made  up  of 


1  The  Speaker,  the  presiding  officer  of  the  House,  is  a  member  of  the  body, 
and,  although  not  the  powerful  official  he  was  before  the  insurgent  movement 
in  1909,  is  still  an  influential  leader. 


CONGRESS 


245 


ten  members,  the  majority  of  whom  are  selected  by  the 
House  from  its  leaders.  Under  these  conditions  debate  is 
naturally  limited;  even  the  chairmen  of  the  committees  to 
which  important  measures  are  referred  content  themselves 
with  comparatively  short  speeches.  Most  of  the  other 
members  on  any  measure  are  limited   to  speeches  of   ten, 


I  Clinedinst  Studio,  Washington.  D.C. 
House  of  Representatives  in  Session. 


of  the  com- 
mittees. 


five,  or   even  two   minutes,  if  indeed   they  have  the  good 
fortune  to  secure  the  privilege  of  the  floor  at  all. 

226.   The    Committee    System.  —  The    most    distinctive  Importance 
feature  of  congressional  procedure  is  the  use  of  committees 
in  lawmaking.     The   committees  are    the  center    and  life  of 
Congress,^  doing  the  larger  part  of  the  work  in  framing 

1  The  committees  are  usually  composed  of  from  ten  to  fifteen  members, 
some  having  as  few  as  three,  and  others,  in  the  House,  as  many  as  twenty-two, 
the  largest  Senate  committee  numbering  twenty.  The  majority  of  each  com- 
mittee belongs  to  the  dominant  party,  except  for  a  few  unimportant  Senate 


246 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Committees 
at  work. 


Introduction 
and  commit- 
ment of  bills. 


important  bills  —  although  these  are  actually  introduced 
by  individual  members  —  in  investigating  subjects  before 
either  house,  and  in  concentrating  discussion  on  the  most 
important  measures. 

The  committees  usually  hold  their  meetings  upon  certain 
mornings.  The  sessions  are  supposed  to  be  secret,  but  are 
not  strictly  so,  although  no  records  of  their  proceedings  are 
published.  Most  of  the  work  at  these  meetings  is  done 
by  the  members  of  the  majority,  whose  leaders,  in  fact,  often 
arrange  beforehand  all  important  details.  Subcommittees 
are  frequently  appointed  to  examine  and  report  upon  special 
features  of  a  bill.  In  their  regular  sessions,  the  committees 
hear  the  reports  of  individuals  or  of  these  subcommittees, 
listen  to  the  statements  of  business  men  whose  work  would 
be  affected  by  the  action  of  the  committees,  examine  experts, 
confer  with  subordinate  officials  of  some  executive  depart- 
ment of  the  government,  and  discuss  the  bills  under  con- 
sideration. 

227.  A  Bill  in  the  First  House.  —  In  its  earliest  form  a  law 
is  a  hill  which  has  been  introduced  in  either  house  by  some 
member  of  that  house.  After  being  read  by  title,  bills  are 
sent  to  appropriate  committees,^  by  which  they  may  not  be 
*'  reported  out  " ;  that  is,  they  are  *'  killed  in  committee." 
Consequently  most  bills  never  reach  a  second  reading,  which 


committees ;  but  every  member  of  the  House  is  on  at  least  one  committee,  and 
every  senator  is  assigned  to  not  less  than  four. 

The  House  of  Representatives  has  two  Committees  of  the  Whole,  one  of  which 
deals  with  financial  bills  and  the  other  with  private  bills.  When  the  House 
resolves  itself  into  a  Committee  of  the  Whole,  the  Speaker  always  calls  some 
one  else  to  the  chair,  as  he  sometimes  does  in  the  House  proper.  The  presiding 
officer  cannot  make  any  one  attend  the  committee,  neither  does  he  have  the 
right  to  maintain  order  by  force.  The  quorum,  instead  of  being  one  half  the 
members,  is  only  one  hundred.  As  sessions  of  the  Committee  of  the  Whole 
are  held  for  the  express  purpose  of  debating  proposed  laws,  speech  is  not  subject 
to  the  same  limitations  as  in  the  House.  When  a  committee  has  finished  the 
business  in  hand,  it  rises  and  reports  to  the  House,  which  is  in  no  way  bound  by 
the  action  of  the  committee. 

1  So  numerous  are  the  committees  tha£  their  duties  frequently  overlap. 
Many  bills  may,  therefore,  be  assigned  to  any  one  of  two  or  more  committees. 
There  is  often  a  sharp  contest  between  chairmen  for  the  control  of  important 
measures. 


CONGRESS 


247 


means  that  they  will  never  be  read  at  all,  for,  when  a  member 
introduces  a  bill  into  either  house,  the  clerk  reads  only  the 
title. 

If  a  bill  is  reported  favorably,  it  is  likely  to  be  considered  Considera- 
briefly  in  its  turn  by  the  House,  or  debated  at  some  length  ^°^  °^  ^^^• 
if    introduced    in    the 


jiiill-fimrti  €nptu  tt  t\t  Siita  Skiia  of  ^xrin; 


AN    ACT 
To  MithoriM  tb«  3ecratAi7  of  tho  lotorior  to  fumiih  bot  mter  from  the  hot 
■priogi  00  tbo  Hot  Bpriogi  RcMxuUon  for  driokiog  lod  botfaiog  purpoMo 
fno  of  ooot  to  tbo  Leo  N.  Leri  Uefflori4l  Hoipiul  AMOcitlioo. 


0/  Ihe  Uniltd 

3lal4l  0/  Antrica  in  Congrai  aitembUJ,  Thml  the  Bocratuy  of  llio  Intfriol  be, 
ftad  be  it  borebj,  ^thorized  to  wppl;  o  ■uArient  quuitity  of  bot  ^-ktcr  fur  five 
tube  frao  the  bot  ipringi  on  tbe  Hot  Sptinp  Reeemlion  for  dnnling  mil 
bktbiig  piupoMe  to  the  Leo  N.  Le>i  Memorial  Hoipiul  AiaocioIloD  wilboul 
ooet  or  cbvge  therefor,  umler  sucb  rulei  and  rcgulali 
fmidtd,  That  laid  hospiul  BMociation  >hall, 
of  the  Bot  Springe  Beaerration  or  bit  dul;  autborired  rrpmentalito,  ijnme- 
dialely  after  being  notified,  aend  an  ambulance  or  oooTeTanoe  for  and  acc«pt 
and  treat  without  charge  therefor  any  omergeDOj  patienle  to  lent  to  the  boepital 


Senate.  Sometimes  the 
senatorial  minority  de- 
lays action  by  unneces- 
sary talking  and  tak- 
ing of  votes.  This 
method,  called  "  fih- 
bustering,"  is  now  al- 
most impossible  in  the 
House. 

When  a  bill  has  been 
read  for  the  third  time, 
a  vote  upon  it  may  be 
taken  in  one  of  three 
ways,  a  majority  of  the 
members  of  the  cham- 
ber being  necessary  for 
a  quorum,  but  only  a 
majority  of  those  pres- 
ent being  required  for 
its  enactment,    (i)  The 
usual  method  consists 
of     calHng     for     the 
*'  ayes  "   and  "  noes," 
the  presiding  officer  deciding  from  the  sound  whether  the  Methods  of 
bill  is  carried.     (2)  When  the  result  is. in  doubt  or  a  mem-  *^^°s  votes, 
ber  asks  for  a  rising  vote,  this  is  taken  and  each  side  is 
counted.     (3)    If  one  fifth  of   the  members  wish  to  have 
the  roll  called,  the  clerk  reads  the  names  alphabetically,  the 
vote  of  each  being  recorded. 

228.   Later    Stages    of   Lawmaking.  —  When    a   bill  has 
been  passed  by  one  house  of  Congress,  it  is  sent  to  the  other. 


SftaktT  0/  the  U<xm  oj  Rtprunldliv 


ViaPnnb 


Pnmint  oJ  IA<  Snalt. 


Z/<t^ 


Form:  of  a  Law. 


248 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Settling  of 
disagree- 
ments be- 
tween the 
houses. 


Three  ways 
in  which 
bills  become 
laws. 


If  it  is  approved  by  this  house  without  alteration,  it  is  signed 
and  sent  to  the  President ;  but,  if  it  is  changed  in  any  par- 
ticular, it  must  be  returned  to  the  house  which  passed  the 
original  bill,  since  any  law  must  be  adopted  by  the  two 
houses  in  exactly  the  same  form.  In  case  of  disagreement 
between  the  two  houses,  the  second  chamber  may  even  go 
so  far  as  to  substitute  for  the  original  bill  an  entirely  different 
one  relating  to  the  same  subject.  This  is  even  done  by  the 
Senate  on  tariff  measures.  In  case  of  disagreement  between 
the  chambers  on  some  necessary  legislation,  it  is  customary 
to  have  a  conference  committee  composed  of  an  equal  num- 
ber of  members  from  each  house.  A  report  by  a  conference 
committee  must  necessarily  be  adopted  without  change  or 
rejected. 

A  bill  passed  by  both  houses  of  Congress  in  exactly  the 
same  form  may  become  a  law  in  one  of  three  ways.  First, 
the  President  signs  it.  Secondly,  if  he  fails  to  sign  it  or  to 
return  it  to  Congress  within  the  ten  days  allowed  by  the 
Constitution,  exclusive  of  holidays  and  Sundays,  it  becomes 
a  law  without  his  signature.^  Thirdly,  if  he  vetoes  a  bill, 
but  it  is  repassed  in  both  houses  by  a  two-thirds  vote  in  each 
house,  it  becomes  a  law  over  his  veto.  Vetoes  are  not  com- 
mon, and  the  enactment  of  laws  over  vetoes  is  much  more 
uncommon. 


Reasons  for 
his  promi- 
nence. 


The  President  , 

229.  The  President's  Position.  —  The  most  conspicuous 
personage  connected  with  our  political  system  is  unques- 
tionably the  President  of  the  United  States.  This  is  due 
not  only  to  the  method  of  election,  which  serves  to  center 
popular  interest  in  the  presidency  every  four  years,  but  to 
the  prominence  of  the  duties  assigned  to  our  chief  executive 
and  the  great  concentration  of  power  in  his  hands.     In  the 

1  A  bill  passed  within  less  than  ten  days  before  the  adjournment  of  Congress 
does  not  become  a  law  unless  signed  by  the  President.  Neglect  in  cases  of 
this  kind  is  equivalent  to  a  veto,  the  name  "pocket  veto  "  being  popularly  applied 
to  the  practice. 


THE  PRESIDENT  249 

control  of  military  matters  and  in  affairs  of  peace,  as  well  as 
in  international  relations,  his  is  the  central  figure,  repre- 
senting most  nearly  the  dignity  and  sovereignty  of  the 
nation. 

The  great  power  of  the  President  comes  from  two  sources.   Constitu- 
First,  the  Constitution  delegates  to  the  President  duties  of  ^^^^^^ 

oowcrSt 

the  first  magnitude  in  authorizing  him  to  enforce  the  laws, 
and  in  addition  gives  him  powers  connected  with  legislation, 
miUtary  affairs,  and  foreign  relations  which  would  of  neces- 
sity make  him  a  powerful  official.  Secondly,  all  officials 
belonging  to  the  executive  branch  of  the  national  govern- 
ment are  directly  or  indirectly  responsible  to  the  President. 
They  are  appointed  by  him  or  by  some  of  his  immediate  sub- 
ordinates, and  may  be  removed  if  they  fail  to  carry  out  his 
policy.  The  importance  of  this  concentration  of  executive 
and  administrative  authority  in  the  hands  of  the  President 
can  be  appreciated  better  if  we  compare  him  with  the  state 
governor.  The  latter,  as  we  saw  (§  196),  has  many  powers 
granted  him  by  the  constitution  of  his  state ;  but,  because 
of  his  inabihty  to  control  more  than  a  small  proportion  of 
the  officials  who.  carry  out  the  state  laws  (§  195),  the  state 
executive  department  has  never  been  coordinate  with  the 
legislature. 

230.   The  Election  of  the  President.  —  The  election  of  a  Steps  in  a 
President  involves  three  steps :  the  nomination  by  a  national  presidential 
party  convention  (§  95),  the  choice  of  presidential  electors, 
which  occurs  in  November  of  the  years  divisible  by  four, 
and  the  meeting  of  the  electors  to  vote  for  the  President  and 
the  Vice-President  the  following  winter. 

Candidates  for  the  presidency  are  still  nominated  in  nomi-  Work  of  a 
nating  conventions.     The  delegates  at  large  to  these  con-  no°^inating 

.  1  1    r  1  ■,-,-,  ■,  ■,  convention. 

ventions  are  elected  from  the  state,  and  the  other  delegates 
are  chosen  usually  from  congressional  districts.  Upon  the 
day  appointed  by  the  national  committee  of  the  party,  the 
convention  is  called  to  order,  and  several  committees  are 
appointed,  consisting  of  one  member  from  each  state,  se- 
lected by  that  state's  delegation.    After  being  fully  organ-. 


250 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The  Novem- 
ber election. 


ized,  the  convention  selects  the  party  platform  for  that 
campaign.  It  then  proceeds  to  the  nominations.  No  one 
may  be  nominated  unless  he  is  at  least  35  years  of  age,  a 
native-born  American,  and  has  been  a  resident  within  the 
United  States  for  fourteen  years. 

The  campaign  is  not  unlike  those  in  the  state  elections, 
although  possibly  somewhat  longer.     On  the  Tuesday  after 


■i 

rst',  «^^^^                  ' '   "' 

P 

_ 

1 

H 

m 

Hi 

t       % 

*#,?■* 

'  'im 

©  Clinedinst  Studio. 
Inauguration  of  President  Roosevelt  (1905). 


Election  by 
electors. 


the  first  Monday  in  November,  the  voters  go  to  the  polls 
and  cast  their  ballots,  not  for  their  candidates  for  President 
and  Vice-President,  but  for  the  electors  who  will  later  vote 
for  those  candidates.  Each  state  is  entitled  to  as  many  elec- 
tors in  the  electoral  college  which  chooses  the  President  as  it 
has  senators  and  representatives  in  Congress. 

The  actual  election  of  the  President  and  Vice-President 
occurs  on  the  second  Monday  in  January  following  a  ''  presi- 
dential election,"  when  the  electors  meet  at  their  respective 


THE  PRESIDENT 


251 


state  capitals  and  vote  for  the  President.  In  case  no  can- 
didate has  a  majority  of  all  electoral  votes  cast  for  Presi- 
dent, the  House  of  Representatives,  voting  by  states,  chooses 
a  President  from  the  three  presidential  candidates  who  have 
the  largest  number  of  electoral  votes.  If  no  one  is  elected 
Vice-President,  the  Senate  selects  for  that  office  one  of  the 
two  vice-presidential  candidates  who  stood  highest.     The 


The  White  House  and  the  Executive  Offices. 


inauguration  occurs  on  the  4th  of  March  following  the  elec- 
tion. The  ceremony  is  impressive  and  always  attracts  large 
numbers  of  strangers  to  Washington. 

231.  Presidential  Term  and  Succession.  —  A  President 
is  chosen  for  a  term  of  four  years.  He  is  reeligible,  but 
according  to  the  custom  known  as  the  ''  third  term  tradi- 
tion "  has  never  been  reelected .  more  than  once.  There 
has  recently  been  quite  a  little  discussion  about  altering  the 
term  of  office,  going  back  to  the  six  or  seven  years  preferred 
at  first  by  the  convention  of  1787,  and  not  allowing  the 


Four-year 
term  vs.  a 
six-year 
term. 


252 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Succession 
to  the 
presidency. 


Civil  and 

military 

authority. 


President  to  be  reelected.  Many  people  object  to  an  excit- 
ing campaign  every  four  years,  and  believe  that  a  President's 
desire  to  remain  in  office  has  a  bad  effect  upon  his  policy 
during  the  last  two  years  of  his  first  term.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  these  objections  are  well  grounded.  Yet  there  is 
much  to  be  said  on  the  other  side.  Four  years  have  been 
too  long  for  some  of  the  Presidents  we  have  had.  If  six 
years  would  mean  no  reeligibility,  a  satisfactory  President 
could  not  be  retained.  On  the  contrary,  if  a  six-year  Presi- 
dent might  be  elected  again,  he  would  have  a  stronger  hold 
upon  the  patronage,  which  always  plays  a  part  in  elections, 
and  would  pander  still  more  to  popular  prejudices,  as  re- 
election would  be  more  difficult  if  the  term  were  lengthened.^ 

We  need  a  Vice-President  because  some  one  should  be  ready 
to  take  the  President's  place  in  case  the  latter  dies.  Five 
Vice-Presidents  have  been  called  to  the  presidency  by  the 
death  of  the  chief  executive.  In  case  both  President  and 
Vice-President  die  during  the  term  for  which  they  are  elected, 
the  office  of  the  President  is  filled  by  the  members  of  the 
Cabinet  in  the  order  in  which  the  portfolios  were  created, 
beginning  with  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  the  Secretary  of  War. 

232.  General  Powers  of  the  President.  —  The  enforce- 
ment of  law  is  ordinarily  a  peaceful  process  in  which  the 
executive  officers  deal  directly  with  individuals.  By  virtue 
of  his  authority  over  his  subordinates,  the  President  wields 
an  immense  amount  of  civil  power  in  time  of  peace.  In 
crises  and  in  time  of  war  he  has  relatively  greater  military 
authority.  He  may  call  out  the  regular  army  or  the  militia 
to  suppress  riots.  As  he  is  commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
and  navy,  he  may  actually  begin  war,  even  though  Congress 


iThe  salary  of  the  President  was  at  first  $25,000  a  year.  In  1873  it 
was  raised  to  $50,000,  and  in  1909  to  $75,000.  In  addition,  the  execu- 
tive mansion  known  as  the  White  House  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
President,  and  the  government  pays  most  of  the  expenses  incurred  in 
the  performance  of  diplomatic  and  social  duties,  aggregating  about 
$200,000  a  year. 


THE  PRESIDENT 


253 


is  not  ready  for  such  action  and  has  passed  no  declaration  of 
war.  In  the  prosecution  of  a  great  war  a  President  is  likely 
to  become  a  military  dictator,  continuing  to  increase  his 
power  until  for  vast  territories  there  is  no  government  ex- 
cept that  of  martial  law.^  According  to  James  (Lord)  Bryce, 
author  of  the  great  standard  work  on  American  government, 
"  The  American  Conamonwealth,"  "  during  the  Civil  War, 


©  Clinedinst  Studio. 
President  Wilson  Addressing  Congress  on  Submarine  Controversy. 


Abraham  Lincoln  wielded  more  authority  than  any  single 
Englishman  has  done  since  Oliver  Cromwell." 

The  President  may  exert  a  very  powerful  influence  upon  Legislative 
the  actions  of  Congress  because  (i)  he  may  veto  bills,  as  powers  of  the 
noted  above  (§  228),  and  (2)  he  has  the  exclusive  right  to 
call  special  sessions,  since  Congress,  unlike  the  state  legis- 
latures, cannot  call  extra  sessions.     (3)  He  sends  an  annual 

1  On  application  of  a  state  legislature  or  executive  the  President  may  direct 
the  movement  of  the  army  in  order  to  protect  any  state  from  invasion,  or  from 
domestic  violence. 


254 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Judicial  and 

foreign 

powers. 


General 
power  of  ap- 
pointment 
and  removal. 


Presidential 
offices. 


message  to  Congress,  or,  as  in  the  case  of  President  Wilson, 
makes  a  speech  before  the  members  of  both  houses.  Spe- 
cial messages  may  be  sent  on  other  occasions.  These  mes- 
sages or  speeches  to  Congress  may  have  considerable  influence 
directly  upon  Congress,  or  indirectly  through  their  influence 
upon  public  sentiment. 

The  President  has  the  right  to  grant  pardons  and  reprieves, 
except  in  case  of  impeachments.  In  addition,  he  has  almost 
absolute  control  of  foreign  affairs.  To  be  sure,  he  must  con- 
sult the  Senate  in  making  of  treaties,  but  he  decides  what 
governments  in  foreign  countries  shall  be  recognized. 
The  policy  called  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  distinctly  a  presi- 
dential policy. 

233.  The  Power  of  Appointment.  —  The  President  has 
the  right  to  appoint  "  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate  "  all  ministers  to  foreign  countries,  consuls,  national 
judges,  and  all  other  United  States  officials  and  employees 
whose  appointment  is  not  left  to  heads  of  departments  or  the 
Civil  Service  Commission  (§  114).^  He  has  practically 
complete  power  of  removal  (§  iii)^  unless  the  subordinates 
are  selected  under  rules  made  by  the  Civil  Service  Com- 
mission. 

The  President  appoints  persons  for  only  the  most  impor- 
tant positions,  including  those  abroad,  the  chief  places  in 
Washington,  coUectorships  throughout  the  United  States, 
and  postmasters  of  the  first  three  classes.    This  power  of 


1  Minor  appointments  were  formerly  left  entirely  to  the  heads  of  bureaus  or 
departments,  who  were  in  turn  appointees  of  the  President. 

2  The  Constitution  does  not  state  how  removals  shall  be  made,  but  by  cus- 
tom it  is  now  left  exclusively  with  the  President,  although  for  twenty  years 
officials  could  be  removed  only  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate.  Having  so  much 
influence  in  appointments,  the  Senate  wovdd  naturally  wish  to  be  consulted  in 
removals  as  well.  The  First  Congress,  however,  passed  a  resolution  which 
declared  that  the  President  was  not  obliged  to  obtain  the  consent  of  the  Senate. 
This  practice  remained  unchanged  until,  in  1867,  Congress  passed  the  famous 
Tenure  of  Office  Act,  requiring  the  indorsement  of  the  Senate  for  both  removals 
and  appointments.  In  1887  this  law  was  repealed  and  the  power  again  left  to 
the  President  alone.  When  an  official  resigns  or  is  removed  during  a  recess  of 
the  Senate,  his  successor  may  hold  office  without  confirmation  until  the  close  of 
the  next  session  of  Congress. 


THE  PRESIDENT  255 

appointment  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  given  the  President, 
although  it  undoubtedly  causes  him  great  annoyance. 
Throngs  of  office  seekers  have  made  the  life  of  many  Presi- 
dents a  burden,  and  an  unwise  or  unpopular  appointment 
often  has  alienated  large  numbers  of  supporters. 

The  practical  working  of  the  system  leaves  the  President  Practical 
most  of  the  discomforts,  with  only  a  fair  share  of  the  bene-  working  of 

tn6  syst6iii. 

fits,  which  accompany  the  right  to  select  subordinates. 
This  is  caused  by  the  necessity  of  consulting  the  Senate  in 
making  appointments.  The  senators  who  belong  to  the 
same  party  as  the  President  insist  that  their  wishes  be  re- 
spected when  any  appointments  are  made  to  offices  situated 
within  their  states.  If  the  President  does  not  nominate  the 
man  selected  by  a  senator  or  choose  one  from  two  or  three 
whom  the  senator  names,  his  appointment  is  likely  to  be 
rejected  in  executive  session  (§  224).  Appointments  of 
this  character  are  in  reality  made  not  so  much  with  the 
consent  of  the  Senate  as  upon  its  advice. 

The  Executive  Departments 

234.  The  President's  Cabinet.  —  Although  the  power  of  Compositioi 
our  national  executive  belongs  almost  exclusively  to  the  ^^^  duties. 
President,  the  administration  of  its  business  remains  with 
the  different  executive  departments,  (i)  At  present  there 
are  ten  of  these,^  —  the  Department  of  State,  the  Treasury, 
War,  Navy,  Post  Office,  Interior,  Justice,  Agriculture,  Com- 
merce, and  Labor.  (2)  The  heads  of  these  departments, 
usually  called  secretaries,  are  selected  by  the  President  and 

1  The  departments  were  organized  in  the  following  order : 
Department  of  State,  July  27,  1789. 
War  Department,  Aug.  7,  1789. 
Department  of  the  Treasury,  Sept.  2,  1789. 
Post  OflSce  Department,  May  8,  1794. 
Navy  Department,  April  30,  1798. 
Interior  Department,  March  3,  1849. 
Department  of  Justice,  June  22,  1870. 
Department  of  Agricvdture,  Feb.  9,  1889. 
Department  of  Commerce,  Feb.  14,  1903. 
Department  of  Labor,  Mar.  3,  1913. 


256 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


are  personally  responsible  to  him.  (3)  Collectively,  they 
form  an  advisory  body  called  the  Cabinet,  which  assists  him 
in  forming  and  executing  any  policy  in  which  the  entire 
administration  is  interested.  All  questions  of  moment  are 
discussed  in  Cabinet  meetings,  held  at  the  White  House  at 
least  twice  a  week,  but  the  President  is  in  no  wise  bound  to 
follow  the  advice  of  his  Cabinet,  and  may  act  in  opposition 
to  the  wishes  of  all  the  secretaries.     Much  more  frequently, 


1  11 

f 

^f^ 

©  Harris  and  Eiptng,  Washington,  D.  C. 
President  Wilson's  Cabinet  (1916). 


of  course,  the  President  and  his  associates  hold  identical 

views  upon  public  questions ;  yet  we  must  not  forget  that  in 

the  last  analysis  the  policy  of  an  administration  is  the  policy 

of  the  President  and  not  that  of  the  Cabinet. 

The  secre-  235.   The  Heads  of  the  Executive  Departments.  —  Far 

taries  in  reia-  more  important  in  the  government  of  the  American  people 

President^      than  the  collective  action  of  the  members  of  the  President's 

and  to  Con-    Cabinet  is  their  administrative  and  supervisory  work  as 

gress.  heads  of  executive  departments.     As  each  department  is 

organized  by  Congress,  and  the  powers  of  the  secretary  and 

his  assistants  are  prescribed  in  the  law,  the  secretaries  might 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS  257 

be  thought  to  be  as  much  under  the  control  of  Congress  as 
they  are  of  the  President.  However,  they  are  appointed 
and  removable  absolutely  by  the  chief  executive,  since  the 
Senate  has  never  refused  to  ratify  the  appointment  of  a 
secretary  made  by  any  President.  The  secretaries,  in  turn, 
have  a  considerable  influence  in  making  recommendations 
and  proposing  laws  which  affect  their  departments  particu- 
larly, although  they  may  not  speak  before  Congress  as  the 
English  ministers  are  allowed  to  speak  in  Parliament. 

Congress  gives  a  secretary  a  great  deal  of  discretion  in  Discretion- 
administering  the  work  assigned  to  his  department.  This  ary  powers  of 
freedom  is  necessary  chiefly  because  of  the  number  of  tasks  taries. 
performed  by  the  heads  of  departments  and  the  difficulty  in 
describing  by  law  the  exact  powers  which  any  department 
shall  have,  for  Congress  is  unwilling  to  give  the  secretaries 
a  free  hand.  The  Department  of  State  offers  the  best 
example  of  discretionary  power  exercised  by  a  secretary. 
Congress  has  no  control  over  diplomatic  relations,  and  the 
President  usually  leaves  the  negotiation  of  treaties  and  other 
foreign  affairs  wholly  to  the  Secretary  of  ^tate.  Much  the 
same  is  true  of  the  Secretaries  of  War  and  Navy  in  time  of 
war.  Alexander  Hamilton  among  the  Secretaries  of  the 
Treasury  had  considerable  influence  not  only  in  his  depart- 
ment but  over  Congress  in  securing  national  legislation  that 
he  desired.  The  President's  relations  with  his  secretaries 
should  be  very  friendly,  in  order  to  secure  the  unity  of  action 
which  is  necessary  to  a  successful  administration  of  public 
affairs.^ 

236.  The  Original  Departments.  —  The  Secretary  of  importance 
State  occupies  a  position  of  especial  honor,  as  the  chief  of  the  State 
secretary  and  the  member  of  the  Cabinet  who  comes  first  ^^^  °  °" 

^  "The  habit  is  to  give  an  afternoon  to  each  Cabinet  officer  on  a  fixed  day  of 
the  week.  These  meetings  are  mainly  given  up  to  the  consideration  of  appoint- 
ments, but,  if  any  other  matters  are  pending,  and  deemed  by  the  secretary  of 
sufficient  importance,  they  are  presented  and  discussed.  The  Cabinet  officer 
is  chiefly  entitled  to  the  credit  if  his  department  is  well  administered,  for  most 
things  he  transacts  on  his  own  responsibility.  His  labors  are  incessant  and  full 
of  care."  —  Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours,  p.  107. 
S 


258 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Treasury 
Department. 


Department 
of  War. 


Department 
of  the  Navy. 


Variety  of 
duties  of  In- 
terior De- 
partment. 


in  the  succession  to  the  presidency.  Many  great  political 
leaders  have  been  selected  by  courtesy  as  Secretaries  of 
State.  The  principal  duties  of  this  portfolio  relate  to  the 
negotiation  of  treaties,' which  are  left  almost  entirely  to  the 
Secretary  of  State.  All  business  of  the  President  with  repre- 
sentatives of  other  countries  is  conducted  through  him. 
The  entire  consular  system  (§  295)  is  under  his  supervision. 
He  has  charge  of  all  pubHc  records  and  issues  all  important 
proclamations. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  usually  been  a  Cabinet 
officer  of  prominence  and  influence;  in  times  of  financial 
stress  or  need  his  suggestions  for  financial  reform  have  fre- 
quently been  followed  by  Congress.  He  has  a  difficult  task 
to  perform  in  helping  Congress  handle  the  finances  neces- 
sary for  the  extravagant  appropriations  made  by  Congress. 
The  Secretary  of  War,  although  usually  a  lawyer,  is  the 
real  commander  of  the  army,  supervising  its  organization, 
equipment,  and  movements.  He  is  aided  by  an  organized 
group  of  officers,  who,  with  the  commanding  general  of  the 
army,  form  the  General  Staff.  West  Point  Military  Academy 
is  under  the  supervision  of  this  department,  as  are  public 
improvements  for  forts,  breakwaters,  and  harbor  defenses. 

237.  Departments  Added  during  the  Early  Years  of  the 
Republic.  —  The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  bears  much  the  same 
relation  to  the  President  as  does  the  Secretary  of  War,  being 
in  fact  as  well  as  in  theory  the  head  of  his  department.  He 
is  assisted  by  a  General  Board,  which  corresponds  in  part  to 
the  General  Staff,  although  less  perfectly  organized.  Since 
the  chief  problems  of  preparedness  due  to  our  location  are 
connected  with  the  navy  and  coast  defense,  the  Secretary 
has  important  problems  to  solve,  connected  with  prepared- 
ness for  war  (§  330),  as  well  as  numerous  routine  duties  to 
perform. 

''  The  Interior  Department  is  now,  in  the  variety  and  im- 
portance of  the  business  committed  to  it,  one  of  the  greatest 
of  the  executive  departments.  Perhaps  no  one  of  the  sec- 
retaries, unless  it  be  the  Secretary  of   the  Treasury,  is  so 


THE  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENTS  259 

pressed  and  cumbered  with  business  as  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.  His  work  is  not  single,  as  in  most  of  the  depart- 
ments, but  diverse  and  multifarious ;  and  only  a  strong  and 
versatile  man  can. conduct  it  successfully.  The  Secretary 
must  pass  finally  in  the  department  upon  questions  of  patent 
law,  pension  law,  land  law,  mining  law,  the  construction  of 
Indian  treaties,  and  many  other  questions  calling  for  legal 
knowledge,  if  the  judgment  of  the  Secretary  is  to  be  of  any 
value.  There  is  an  assistant  Attorney-general  assigned  to 
the  department,  and  the  Secretary  may  call  upon  the  At- 
torney-general for  his  opinion  upon  important  matters,  but 
there  is  hardly  an  hour  in  the  day  that  does  not  present 
some  legal  question,  and  very  often  the  Secretary  must  sit 
as  an  appellate  judge,  hear  arguments,  and  render  decisions."  ^ 

The  Department  of  Justice  was  not  organized  as  a  sepa-  Department 
rate  department  until  1870,  although  the  ^^/orwey-ge/^emZ^^J^s^^^^- 
has  always  been  a  Cabinet  officer.  The  true  duties  of  the 
Attorney-general  and  his  subordinates  are  to  advise  the 
President  and  the  executive  officials  regarding  legal  questions 
which  arise,  to  supervise  the  actions  of  the  district  attorneys 
and  marshals  (§  241),  and  to  conduct  in  the  higher  courts 
suits  to  which  the  United  States  is  a  party. 

The  work  of   the  Post  Office  Department  is  explained   Post  Office, 
rather  fully  in  §§  303-304. 

238.   Recently    Organized    Departments.  —  The    Depart-  Department 
ment  of  Agriculture  does  a  work  second  only  to  the  Depart-  of  Agri- 
ment  of  the  Interior  in  the  development  and  conservation 
of  our  great  natural  resources.     The  topics  considered  in 
§§  3o5~3o7    suggest    the    practical    value    of  its  work  to 
farmers. 

Supervision  of  industry,  so  far  as  that  is  permitted  to  the  Department 
national  government  by  the  national  Constitution  (§  279),  ofCom- 
and  the  promotion  of  foreign  commerce  abroad  give  the 
Secretary  of  Commerce  ample  opportunity  to  exercise  con- 
siderable influence  over  business.     As  the  Department  has 
charge  of  the  all-important  subject  of  immigration  (§§  44- 

\Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours,  pp.  269-270. 


26o  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

48),  it  has  atn  even  greater  influence  on  the  administration 

of  a  difiicult  social  problem. 
Department        The  newest  department,  that  of  Labor ^   devotes   its  at- 
of  Labor.        tention  chiefly  to  the  gathering  and  publishing  of  statistics 

on  wages  and  conditions  of  work  in  various   occupations. 

In  the  future  its  work  is  likely  to  become  far  more  important 

than  it  has  been  in  the  past. 


The  National  Judiciary 

Final  inter-         239.   The    Work    of    the    Judicial    Department.  —  Our 

preter  of  the    national  courts  have  jurisdiction  of  all  cases  arising  under  the 
tion.  Constitution,  the  national  laws,  or  treaties.     As  explained 

in  the  preceding  chapter,  the  Supreme  Court  is  the  final  inter- 
preter  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  that  is,  it 
decides  what  the  meaning  of  any  particular  clause  or  section 
may  be.  In  consequence  the  Supreme  Court  has  the  power 
to  determine  the  exact  location  of  the  boundary  line  between 
the  sphere  of  national  activity  and  that  of  the  states  (§  66). 
Moreover,  it  may  permit  the  national  government  to  use 
"  implied  powers,'^  which  supplement  those  enumerated  in 
the  Constitution,  but  which  do  not  infringe  upon  the  rights 
of  the  states. 
How  the  The  courts  do  not  decide  the  meaning  of  a  section  of  the 

^^"ttV^^'^'  Constitution  by  offering  opinions  at  any  time,  but  interpret 
stitution.  the  Constitution  solely  in  connection  with  their  regular  work 
as  courts.  When  a  person  feels  that  he  is  injured  in  the  exe- 
cution of  a  law,  his  case  is  brought  before  a  court  for  trial, 
and  if  the  meaning  of  any  clause  of  the  Constitution  is  in- 
volved, the  court  explains  the  meaning  of  the  clause  when  it 
gives  its  decision  in  the  case.  It  really  decides  whether  or 
not  laws  passed  by  Congress  are  constitutional.  If,  in  its 
opinion.  Congress  had  a  right  to  pass  the  law  with  which 
the  case  is  concerned,  the  law  is  declared  constitutional.  If 
Congress  has  exceeded  its  powers,  the  law  is  set  aside  as 
null  and  void.  The  Supreme  Court,  to  which  cases  involv- 
ing the  Constitution  are  appealed,  is  thus  enabled  both  to 


NATIONAL  JUDICIARY 


261 


extend  the  power  of  Congress  within  reasonable  limits  and  to 
prevent  that  body  from  usurping  the  functions  of  the  other 
departments  of  the  national  government  and  of  the  states. 

240.  National  Courts :  Judges  and  Jurisdiction.  —  Ac- 
cording to  the  Constitution  there  shall  be  one  Supreme 
Court  and  as  many  inferior  courts  as  Congress  wishes  to 
establish.    At  present  there  are  three  series  of  courts,  —  the 


I'l 


Three  series 
of  courts. 


©  Harris  and  EvAng. 

Brandeis  Pitney  McReynolds  Clarke 

Day  McKenna  White  (C.  J.)  Holmes        Van  Devanter 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  (1917)- 


Supreme  Court,  which  always  meets  in  Washington,  nine 
Circuit  Courts  oj  Appeals,  and  District  Courts. 

The  judges  of  all  these  courts  are  appointed  for  good  be-  Term  ap- 
havior  by  the  President  with  the  consent  of  the  Senate,   pomtment. 
They  may  be  removed  only  on  impeachment  in  the  House  of  of  judges. 
Representatives  and  conviction  by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate. 
For  their  services  they  are  paid  small  salaries  which  may  be 
increased,  but  not  diminished,  during  their  term  of  office.^ 

1  The  salary  of  the  Chief  Justice  is  $13,000  per  year,  that  of  the  associate 
justices  $12,500,  of  the  circuit  judges  $7000,  and  of  the  district  judges  $6000. 


262 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Jurisdiction 
of  the 
national 
courts. 


The  Supreme 
Court. 


Those  who  have  served  at  least  ten  years  are  permitted  to 
retire  at  the  age  of  seventy,  and  continue  to  draw  full  pay. 
Because  of  the  honor  connected  with  these  positions,  our 
national  judges  have  been  men  of  exceptional  ability,  and 
our  Supreme  Court  especially  has  enjoyed  a  world-wide  repu- 
tation for  wisdom  and  impartiality. 

The  Constitution  provides  for  the  different  kinds  of  cases 
that  may  be  tried  in  United  States  courts.  "  The  judicial 
power  shall  extend  to  all  cases,  in  law  and  equity,  arising 
under  this  Constitution,  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and 
treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under  their  authority.^'* 

241.  The  Separate  Courts.  —  The  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  consists  of  one  chief  justice  and  eight  associate 
justices.2  The  court  holds  its  regular  session  in  Washington 
beginning  in  October,  and  the  presence  of  six  justices  is 
necessary  before  a  decision  is  rendered.  The  jurisdiction  of 
the  Supreme  Court  is  of  two  kinds,  original  and  appellate, 
the  former  including  only  those  cases  which  are  enumerated 
in  .the  Constitution.^ 


*  It  extends  also  "To  all  cases  afifecting  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers 
and  consuls;  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime  jurisdiction;  to  con- 
troversies to  which  the  United  States  shall  be  a  party;  to  controversies  be- 
tween two  or  more  states;  between  a  state  and  citizens  of  another  state; 
between  citizens  oi  different  states;  between  citizens  of  the  same  state,  or 
the  citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  states,  citizens  or  subjects." 

2 In  1917  the  Supreme  Court  was  composed  as  follows: 


Justice 


Chief  Justice  Edward  D.  White  (La.)  .  .  . 
Associate  Justice  Joseph  McKenna  (Cal.) .  . 
Associate  Justice  Oliver  W.  Holmes  (Mass.)  . 
Associate  Justice  William  R.  Day  (Ohio)  .  . 
Associate  Justice  W.  Van  Devanter  (Wyo.)  . 
Associate  Justice  Mahlon  Pitney  (N.  J.)  •  . 
Associate  Justice  James  C.  McReynolds  (Tenn.) 
Associate  Justice  Louis  D.  Brandeis  (Mass.)  . 
Associate  Justice  John  H.  Clarke  (Ohio)    .     . 


Appointed 


1910 
1898 
1902 
1903 
1910 
1912 
1914 
1916 
1916 


'AH  cases  involving  state  law  only  are  always  tried  in   state  tribunals. 
Cases  involving  national  law  are  begun  usually  in  national  courts.     If  a  case 


NATIONAL  JUDICIARY 


263 


Because  the  appellate  jurisdiction  of  the  Supreme  Court  Circuit 
was  very  extensive,  cases  were  obliged  to  wait  several  years  ^^^^^^^ 
before  trial  until  the  Circuit  Courts  of  Appeals  were  created 
in  1 89 1.  There  is  one  Circuit  Court  composed  of  the  three 
or  four  judges  for  each  of  the  nine  circuits  into  which  the 
United  States  is  divided.  All  cases  appealed  from  the  dis- 
trict or  state  courts  and  not  taken  directly  to  the  Supreme 
court  are  reviewed  in  the  Circuit  Courts  of  Appeals. 

At  present  there  are  about  one  hundred  District  Courts  in  District 
the  United  States.  No  cases  are  appealed  from  any  lower  Jh^-'^^^l^^ 
court  to  the  District  Court,  that  is,  its  jurisdiction  is  origi- 
nal. To  each  of  the  districts  is  assigned  a  district  attorney, 
who  represents  the  United  States  in  all  suits  arising  in  national 
courts  held  within  his  district,  and  a  marshal,  who  executes 
the  decisions  of  national  court  for  that  district. 


General  References 

Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State,  224-343. 
Hart,  Actual  Government,  215-319. 
Young,  The  New  American  Government,  10-93,  275-297. 
Beard,  American  Government  and  Politics,  166-314. 
Beard,  Readings  in  American  Government  and  Politics  (rev.  ed.),  154- 
290. 

Bryce  (Macy),  The  American  Commonwealth,  abridged  ed.,  22-223. 

Bryce,  The  American  Commonwealth,  4th  ed.,  I,  38-311, 

Reinsch,  Readings  on  American  Federal  Government,  1-298,  362-472. 

Wilson,  Constitutional  Government  in  the  United  States. 

Taft,  Our  Chief  Magistrate  and  his  Powers. 

Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours. 

Fairlie,  National  Administration  of  the  United  States. 

Topics 

Real  Powers  of  the  Senate:  West,  H.  L.,  in  Forum,  31  (1901), 
423-431;  Low,  A.  M.,  in  North  American  Review,  174  (1902),  231-244; 
Moody,  W.  H.,  in  North  American  Review,  174  (1902),  386^394;  Nelson, 
H.  L.,  in  Century  Magazine,  65  (1903),  499-515. 

which  may  be  appealed  to  a  national  court  is  tried  in  a  state  court,  and  the 
state  court  decides  in  favor  of  the  national  law  or  Constitution,  its  decision 
need  not  be  reviewed  by  the  Supreme  Court.  In  this  respect  the  state  courts 
have  been  made  really  a  part  of  the  national  judiciary,  a  fact  which  illustrates 
the  real  unity  of  national  and  state  government. 


264  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

Congressional  Committees  :  Bryce,  The  American  Commonwealthy 
4th  ed.,  156-166;  "Wilson,  Constitutional  Government  in  the  United 
States;  McConachie,  Congressional  Committees,  58-86,  116-121,  245-254; 
McCall,  The  Business  of  Congress,  Chaps.  Ill,  V. 

Removals  from  Office  :  McLaughlin  and  Hart  (eds.),  Cyclopedia  of 
American  Government,  III,  177-180;  Finley  and  Sanderson,  American 
Executive  and  Executive  Methods,  29-43,  93-104 ;  Fish,  C.  R.,  in  American 
Historical  Ass'n  Report,  1899,  I,  67-86. 

The  Department  of  the  Interior  :  Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours, 
269-288;  Gauss,  American  Government,  153-158;  Fairlie,  National  Ad- 
ministration, 188-219. 

Studies 

1.  Speaker  of  the  House  before  and  after  1910.     Beard,  Readings  in 
American  Government  and  Politics,  256-262. 

2.  Characteristics  of  the  House  of  Representatives.    Reinsch,  Ameri- 
can Legislatures  and  Legislative  Methods,  62-71. 

3.  Poor  methods  used  in  Congress.     Reinsch,  Readings  in  American 
Federal  Government,  290-296. 

4.  The  interrelation  of  the  national  departments.    Ashley,  American 
Federal  State,  327-341. 

5.  Securing  votes  in  Congress.   Lodge,  Historical  and  Political  Essays, 
169-179. 

6.  Administrative  centralization  in  hands  of  President.     Goodnow, 
Comparative  Administrative  Law,  I,  162-170. 

7.  The  presidential  office.     Rhodes,  J.  F.,  in  Scrihner^s  Magazine, 

33  (1903),  157-173- 

8.  The  enforcement  of  law.    Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours,  1 13-1 1 8. 

9.  The  hampered  executive.     Nelson,  H.  L.,  in  Century  Magazine, 
66  (1903),  140-151. 

10.  The  life  of  a  President.    Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours,  159-180. 

11.  The  overworked  President.  Steffens,  L.,  in  McClure's  Magazine, 
18  (1902),  483-492. 

12.  Our  fellow-citizen  of  the  White  House.  Buel,  C.  C,  in  Century 
Magazine,  53  (1897),  645-664. 

13.  The  Department  of  War.  Ca.TteT,VJ.l{.,  in  Scribner's  Magazine, 
33  (1903) »  661-673. 

14.  The  Department  of  the  Navy.  Mahan,  A.  T.,  in  Scribner^s 
Magazine,  33  (1903),  567-577. 

15.  Scientific  work  of  government.  Langley,  S.  P.,  in  Scribner's 
Magazine,  35  (1904),  81-92. 

16.  General  character  of  the  national  courts.  Ashley,  American 
Federal  State,  §§  374-382,  404-406. 

17.  The  influence  of  Supreme  Court  decisions  (historical).  Brewer, 
in  Scribner's  Magazine,  33  (1903),  275-283. 


NATIONAL  GOVERNMENT  265 


Questions 

1.  For  what  terms  are  members  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives chosen?  What  is  the  number  of  the  present  Congress? 
What  is  the  difference  between  the  long  session  and  the  short  session? 
Why  are  committees  used  in. Congress?  In  which  house  are  they  more 
important,  and  why?  Why  are  different  methods  used  for  taking  votes 
in  Congress  ?  Why  does  the  House  limit  debates  whereas  the  Senate 
does  not  ? 

2.  Give  the  special  powers  of  the  Senate  and  show  why  these  special 
powers  were  left  to  the  Senate.     Give  the  special  powers  of  the  House. 

3.  Name  the  President  of  the  United  States,  at  least  four  members 
of  the  President's  Cabinet,  at  least  three  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
both  of  the  senators  from  this  state,  and  our  representative  in  the  lower 
house. 

4.  Explain  fully  and  clearly  just  how  a  President  is  nominated 
(§  94)  and  elected.  What  are  the  constitutional  qualifications  of  a 
President  and  a  Vice-President? 

5.  Why  is  the  President  so  powerful  an  official  ?  Name- and  explain 
the  most  important  powers  exercised  by  the  President.  Explain  why 
most  of  the  national  appointed  officials  within  a  state  are  really  selected 
by  congressmen,  not  by  the  President. 

6.  Name  the  departments  whose  heads  form  the  President's  Cabinet. 
Which  were  original?  Which  have  been  created  within  recent  years? 
Explain  the  numerous  duties  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  of  at 
least  two  other  secretaries.  Which  secretaries  have  most  discretionary 
power,  and  why? 

7.  In  which  departments  would  the  following  bureaus,  boards,  or 
officials  be  found  ?  (see  Congressional  Directory)  :  General  Land  Office, 
Consular  Service,  Bureau  of  Corporations,  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, General  Staff,  Controller  of  the  Currency,  Pension  Bureau, 
Bureau  of  Manufactures,  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry,  Reclamation  Serv- 
ice, Forest  Service,  Census  Bureau,  United  States  Marshals,  Rural 
Free  Delivery.' 


S^CEtg-fifi^  Congress  of  t|e  WtMf  States  of  %mxkr, 

^t  tlw  first  Hessian, 

Begun  and  faeld  at  the  City  of  Waahlngton  on  Monday,  the  aecood  day  of  April, 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seventeen. 


JOINT  RESOLUTION 


Declaring  that  a  state  of  war  exists  between  the  Imperial  Gennan  Qovemment 
»nd  the  Qovemment  and  the  people  of  the  United  States  and  making 
provision  to  prosecute  the  same. 


Whereas  the  Imperial  German  Government  has  conmiitted  repeated  acts  of 
war  against  the  Government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States  of 
America:  Therefore  be  it 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  oj  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  state  of  war  between  the  United 
States  and  the  Impetial  Gennan  Government  which  has  thus  been  thrust  upon 
the  United  States  is  hereby  formally  declared ;  and  that  the  President  be,  and 
he  is  hereby,  authorized  and  directed  to  employ  the  entire  naval  and  military 
forces  of  the  United  States  and  the  resources  of  the  Government  to  carry  on  war 
against  the  Imperial  German  Govem_jnt;  and  to  bring  the  conflict  to  a 
successful  termination  all  of  the  resources  of  the  country  are  hereby  pledged  by 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 


Speaker  of  the  JSouse  of  Representatives. 
Vice  President  of  the  United  States  and 


War  Resolution  teat  brought  us  into  the  Great  War. 


PART    III 
SOME  PUBLIC  ACTIVITIES 


©  Shaw  and  Cosner,  Bloomington,  Ind. 
The  Student  Building,  University  of  Indiana. 


r  _ 


Morgan  Hall,  University  of  Alabama. 


Administration  Building,  University  of  Nebraska. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

PUBLIC  HEALTH  AND   WELFARE 

Education 

242.  The  Public  Schools  and  Our  Republic.  —  We  have  Purposes  of 
already  discussed  (§§  21-27)  ^^^  education  of  the  citizen,  free  pubhc 
explaining  the  training  in  citizenship  as  well  as  for  citizen- 
ship which  is  furnished  in  the  home  and  in  the  school.  We 
need,  however,  to  make  a  little  further  study  of  the  educa- 
tional work  being  done  by  society  for  its  youth.  We  need 
to  notice  again  that  free  public  education  is  furnished  by 
society  quite  as  much  for  its  own  protection  as  for  the  de- 
velopment of  its  members. 

In  a  country  governed  by  an  absolute  monarch  or  by  its  Education 
nobles,  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  common  people  should  ^^^  ^sf^°" 
be  educated  to  help  govern  the  country,  especially  if  the  absolutism, 
rulers  do  not  wish  to  govern  well  or  wisely.     In  such  coun- 
tries it  is  necessary  to  keep  the  people  ignorant  in  order  that 
they  may  not  understand  fully  how  badly  they  are  ruled. 
In  time,  of  course,  the  people  will  assert  themselves ;    then 
their  ignorance  will  lead  to  revolution,  to  unnecessary  blood- 
shed, and  to  still  worse  government.     Such  a  country  is  not 
only  in  danger  of  a  day  of  reckoning,  but  it  loses  all  of  the 
economic  and  social  progress  which  would  have  been  brought 
to  it  by  educated  citizens. 

In  a  republic  such  as  ours  education  is  necessary  for  the  Need  of  edu- 
proper  understanding  of  the  principles  and  the  practice  of  fated  citizens 
popular  and  representative  government.     It  is  essential  to  public, 
the  choice  of  the  best  officials,  to  the  enactment  of  the  best 
laws,  and  to  the  enforcement  of  law  and  order.     Without 
the  education  of  our  citizens,  we  must  submit  to  the  rule  of  • 

269 


270 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Schools  in 
the  state 
system. 


State  school 
laws  and 
state 
revenues. 


the  few  who  know  how  to  rule  and  can  do  so,  or  we  must  be 
content  with  mob  rule ;  we  must  be  satisfied  with  poor  laws, 
incompetent  officials,  and  a  public  sentiment  as  narrow  as 
it  is  prejudiced.  If  to  this  lack  of  education  for  public  duties 
we  add  ignorance  of  ourselves,  our  business,  and  our  personal 
interests,  we  shall  fail  to  gain  prosperity  and  real  success, 
which,  founded  on  sound  government,  make  a  country  great. 

243.  The  State  System  of  Education.  —  Under  our  federal 
system  of  government,  education  is  naturally  controlled  by  the 
states.  Each  state  has  organized  a  system  of  public  schools. 
This  always  includes  primary  and  grammar  schools  and 
ordinarily  includes  high  schools  as  well.  In  most  of  the  states 
kindergartens  are  added  below  the  first  grade,  and  state 
universities,  normal  schools,  agricultural  colleges,  and  other 
technical  schools  offer  free  courses  for  advanced  students. 

Each  state  has  a  state  school  law  ^  which  seeks  to  stand- 
ardize and  improve  the  schools  within  its  borders.  In  the 
states  with  the  best  systems  of  education  ^  this  law  requires 
a  minimum  school  year  of  nine  months  and  has  regulations 
to  insure  good  preparation  of  teachers.  In  some  of  these 
states  a  fair  percentage  of  the  school  revenue  is  raised  by  the 
state.  By  withholding  the  state  school  moneys  (§  246)  of 
any  district  or  city  which  fails  to  live  up  to  the  state  law, 
a  few  of  these  states  have  raised  greatly  the  standard  of 
teaching  and  scholarship  in  their  schools.^ 

244.  State  Colleges  and  Universities.  —  Agricultural  col- 
leges have  been  established  in  most  of  the  states.  By  an 
act  of  Congress  (1862),  30,000  acres  of  public  land  were 

^  The  state  school  law  determines  whether  the  district,  the  township,  or  the 
county  shall  be  the  unit  for  school  administration,  and  what  officers  shall  be 
selected,  with  the  powers  of  each.  It  also  prescribes  a  minimum  list  of  the  sub- 
jects which  must  be  taught  in  every  school,  the  minimum  number  of  months 
in  the  school  year,  and  the  qualifications  of  teachers  of  the  different  grades. 

^  The  state  departments  of  education  have  superintendents,  aided  in  most  of 
the  states  by  state  school  hoards.  The  school  boards  are  usually  appointed  by 
the  governors,  the  superintendents  being  elected  more  generally  than  appointed. 

3  The  state  superintendents  usually  visit  the  different  bounties,  examine  schools, 
and  gather  information  for  the  state  boards.  In  several  states,  the  boards  or 
.  the  superintendents  may  suspend  teachers  for  cause,  or  revoke  certificates  issued 
by  the  state  or  county  boards. 


EDUCATION 


271 


given  to  each  of  the  states  for  each  congressman  to  which  the 
state  was  entitled  at  that  time ;  the  proceeds  arising  from  the 
sale  of  these  lands  were  devoted  to  agricultural  education. 
Experiment  stations  are  often  conducted  in  connection  with 
these  institutions,  and  the  national  government  grants  appro- 
priations each  year  for  every  agricultural  school  and  experi- 
ment station. 

The  state  universities  found  in  nearly  one  half  of  the  states 
are  among  the  largest  and  best  in  the  land.  They  are  co- 
educational institutions,  and  offer  an  exceedingly  varied 
number  of  courses, 
including  engineer- 
ing work  as  well 
as  the  professions. 
They  represent  the 
highest  development 
of  the  American 
idea  that  education 
should  be  at  public 
expense,  since  in- 
struction is  ordina- 
rily free  for  those 
students  who  live 
within  the  state. 
Many  of  these  universities  have  rendered  valuable  service 
to  the  cause  of  education  by  aiding  the  grammar  and 
high  schools,  by  introducing  better  and  more  uniform 
methods  in  local  education,  and  by  university  extension 
work. 

The  normal  schools  are  institutions  for  the  special  training 
of  teachers.  Until  these  normal  schools  were  established, 
teachers  were  not  only  poorly  prepared  for  their  work,  but  as 
a  rule  were  only  half  educated.  The  majority  of  the  present 
normal  schools  are  well  equipped,  and  are  doing  much  to 
raise  the  standard  of  efficiency  among  the  teachers  of  the 
country.  Many  of  the  best  normal  schools  or  colleges  now 
require  a  higl  school  certificate  for  entrance. 


Court  of  Normal  School,  Newark,  N.  J. 


Agricul- 
tural col- 
leges and 
experiment 
stations. 


Courses  of, 
and  super- 
vision by, the 
state  uni- 
versity. 


State  normal 
schools. 


272 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Importance 
of  the  com- 
mon schools. 


245.  Grammar  and  High  Schools.  —  After  all,  few  stu- 
dents enter  normal  schools,  agricultural  colleges,  or  state 
universities.  In  fact  only  about  one  seventh  of  those  who 
are  enrolled  in  the  first  grade  ever  enter  high  school,  and 
less  than  one  third  of  all  high  school  freshmen  ever  graduate. 
The  schools  which  influence  the  rank  and  file  of  our  people 
are  the  primary  and  grammar  schools,  although  the  high 
schools  are  growing  in  importance. 


Grover  Cleveland  High  School,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 


Close  con- 
nection be- 
tween school 
and  com- 
munity. 


These  schools  are  always  under  the  control  of  city  boards 
of  education,  or  of  rural  school  trustees  or  commissioners.^ 
The  excellence  of  the  schools  depends  on  the  school  officials, 
of  course,  less  than  it  does  on  the  community,  for  a  com- 
munity is  likely  to  have  good  schools  if  it  demands  a  high 

^  In  all  of  the  states  in  which  townships  do  not  exist  or  are  not  well  devel- 
oped, the  county  hoards  have  important  duties  in  granting  certificates  to  teachers, 
selecting  textbooks  for  the  county  schools,  providing  for  uniform  courses  of 
study,  and  raising  money  for  school  purposes.  In  most  of  the  other  states  the 
burden  of  school  duties  falls  upon  the  trustees  of  the  districts  or  townships,  who 
almost  invariably  have  charge  of  selecting  teachers  and  of  erecting  school  build- 
ings, and  who  may  be  obliged  to  assume  in  addition  part  or  all  of  the  tasks  men- 
tioned above. 


EDUCATION 


273 


educational  standard.  If  it  is  indifferent  or  protests  against 
all  constructive  educational  work  or  refuses  to  pay  the  in- 
evitably high  costs  of  good  modern  education,  in  all  proba- 
bility its  schools  will  be  inferior. 

Good  schools  will  probably  be  found  wherever  there  are 
modern,  sanitary,  and  attractive  school  buildings,  but  the 
teaching  force  ^  and  the  equipment  naturally  count  much 
more  than  the  school  buildings.  One  recalls  the  oft-quoted 
statement  of  President  Garfield  that  if  Mark  Hopkins  were 
at  one  end  of  a  log  and  a  student  at  the  other,  the  young 
man  would  not  fail  to  get  a  good  education.  It  does  not 
necessarily  follow  that,  because  a  city  has  free  kindergartens 
and  intermediate  schools  (junior  high  schools),  as  well  as 
visual  education,  manual  training,  and  other  new  courses,  it 
actually  does  furnish  a  better  education  than  the  less  elabo- 
rate country  school  or  the  "  little  red  school  house  "  of  our 
forefathers ;  yet  it  certainly  has  better  opportunity  to  do  so. 
Any  school,  however,  which  has  an  earnest,  enthusiastic,  and 
harmonious  body  of  students  will  be  a  real  success. 

246.  School  Finances.  —  The  public  interest  taken  in 
our  schools  is  shown  by  the  enormous  sums  expended  an- 
nually on  education;  for  the  comnion  schools  cost  more 
than  $500,000,000  annually,  about  $5.00  for  every  person 
in  the  United  States  and  nearly  $22  for  each  pupil  enrolled. 
The  aid  given  by  Congress  to  the  newer  states  undoubtedly 
exerted  a  healthful  influence  in  quickening  this  popular 
interest.^ 

By  far  the  larger  part  of  the  school  revenue  is  obtained 
from  regular  taxation  (§  154).    In  most  of  the  states,  the 


Opportuni- 
ties and 
conditions  of 
successful 
modern  edu- 
cation. 


Amount  of 
school  ex- 
penditures. 


1  A  custom  which  is  practically  uniform  throughout  the  country,  and  which 
is,  perhaps,  more  than  anything  else  responsible  for  any  inefficiency  in  the 
schools,  consists  in  electing  new  teachers  for  a  term  of  one  year  only,  and  some- 
times of  dismissing  them  without  good  reason.  In  a  few  cities  a  fair  permanency 
of  tenure  is  assured,  and  appointments  are  made  by  the  superintendent. 

2  Since  1802  Congress  has  given  as  the  basis  of  an  educational  fund  to  each 
of  the  states  formed  out  of  the  "public  domain,"  i.e.  the  land  directly  controlled 
by  Congress,  one  section  of  the  thirty-six  in  each  township  (see  §  314  ».  3),  and 
since  1848,  two  sections.  These  school  lands  have  been  sold  and  the  proceeds 
devoted  to  developing  the  schools  in  these  states. 


274 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Revenues 
and  future 
expansion. 


taxes  are  purely  local,^  and  are  as  large  as  each  community 
thinks  it  needs  and  can  afford.  On  account  of  the  high  costs 
of  the  newer  forms  of  vocational  education  and  the  desire 
of  many  communities  not  only  to  procure  the  best  teachers 
obtainable  but  to  reduce  the  number  of  pupils  per  teacher, 
school  expenses  are  much  higher  than  they  were  a  few  years 
ago.  Because  teachers  are  now  paid  almost  starvation 
wages  in  some  communities,  still  heavier  expenses  must  be  in- 
curred before  those  schools  will  be  reasonably  satisfactory. 


Gramercy  Neighborhood  Association,  New  York  City. 
(Meeting  in  Auditorium  of  Washington  Irving  High  School.) 


The  school 
as  a  social  or 
dvic  center. 


247.  Wider  Uses  of  the  School  Plant.  —  A  school  build- 
ing and  its  equipment  not  only  should  be  used  during  school 
hours  to  the  best  advantage,  but  the  schoolhouse  should 

^  As  stated  above  (§  243),  many  states  collect  state  school  taxes,  and  dis- 
tribute to  the  counties  or  townships  sums  in  prop>ortion  to  the  number  of  scholars 
who  attend  school  regularly.  In  this  way  help  is  given  to  the  poorer  districts 
and  to  those  which  are  especially  earnest  in  their  school  work. 


EDUCATION  275 

become  the  civic  or  social  center  of  the  community.  In 
some  localities  the  schoolhouse  has  always  been  the  place  of 
public  meeting,  but  most  schoolhouses,  even  our  costly 
modern  school  plants,  are  vacant  eighteen  hours  every 
school  day,  and  at  least  half  of  the  days  in  a  year.  This 
seems  an  unnecessary  waste  of  good  material.  By  using 
the  rooms,  laboratories,  and  shops  for  night  schools,  many 
communities  are  adding  two  or  three  hours  to  a  school  day. 
Entertainments,  rallies,  and  other  public  gatherings  in  the 
schoolrooms  or  auditoriums  are  turning  many  schools  into 
true  social  centers.  Many  cities,  especially  those  in  the 
East,  have  special  courses  for  new  citizens;  others  offer 
courses  after  school  hours  to  mothers ;  still  others  are  open 
all  day  and  every  school  evening  for  those  who  need  help. 
In  the  development  of  the  newer  and  better  democracy  by 
which  we  may  be  able  to  solve  the  pressing  problems  in 
poHtics  and  society,  the  school  can  do  a  much  larger  work 
than  it  has  in  the  past;  it  may  become  directly  valuable 
to  adult  citizens  as  well  as  to  the  children  and  youth. 

248.   Public    Libraries.  —  A    silent,    uplifting    force    but  Importance 
little  inferior  to  that  of  the  public  schools  is  found  in  the  °^  ^^^  ^^"" , 

eral  work  of 

free  libraries  which  have  been  established  in  probably  one  public  libra- 
half  of  the  cities  and  villages  of  this  country.  The  work  of  "^s. 
the  libraries  is  valuable,  even  through  the  distribution  of  fic- 
tion, which  usually  comprises  at  least  one  half  of  the  volumes 
in  actual  use,  for  most  of  these  books  are  wholesome,  interest- 
ing, and  amusing.  Through  the  circulation  of  better  classes  of 
fiction,  biographies,  histories,  scientific  treatises,  and  modern 
books  on  many  other  subjects,  general  readers  have  oppor- 
tunities which  were  denied  to  them  a  quarter  century 
ago.i 

1  Where  the  patrons  of  the  libraries  are  permitted  access  to  the  shelves  and 
are  allowed  to  examine  books,  the  circulation  is  increased,  and  interest  is 
awakened  in  reading  books  other  than  fiction.  Most  libraries  have  juvenile 
departments,  from  which  books  may  be  drawn  by  children  of  a  reasonable  age. 
They  also  help  to  awaken  a  taste  for  a  better  class  of  literature  by  sending  a 
large  number  of  books  at  one  time  to  the  different  schools  of  the  city,  where 
they  are  read  freely  by  the  pupils. 


276 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Reading  and 

reference 

rooms. 


Almost  as  many  magazines  and  books  are  consulted  at 
the  libraries  as  are  withdrawn  for  circulation.  The  popu- 
lar magazines  and  newspapers  attract  many  to  the  reading 


Public  Library,  Springfield,  Mass. 

rooms,  while  the  scientific  papers  and  well-selected  works  of 
reference  are  consulted  by  large  numbers  of  scholars.  Some 
of  our  finest  libraries  limit  themselves  to  reference  and 
consultation  work,  distributing  no  books  whatever. 


1*0*  »,   Ti: 

^AJliSHARJ  ^ 

*•  nriv » f^NB  Du  LAC  I   »*s"jg 
r— - J—- *-3-Jii-Q-S— 1 »     !**.»  '•* 

•  •-   '^♦••o*  I    »T^    »|fff 


USE  01' LIBRARIES 

sonxHERK  wjscojrsjN  \  GpfNT. !  !»°o**» 
\    'o  <^  !-— — - 

Public  Libiatj. 

State  TnTellng  Ubiai; 
Connty  TnTeling  Library 


JbluMBlAp 


iRANT*   ,!»•     0»",  :• ^?v».  i^i^ .♦JO  •     .^•••-^^         M 


J 


Others  do  exactly  the  opposite,  especially  the  state  travel- 
ing libraries,  which  circulate  books  among  those  communities 


EDUCATION 


277 


which  have  access  in  no  other  way  to  library  books.     The  Traveling  li- 
extent  of  the  work  done  by  one  of  these  traveling  libraries  ^^^^^  for 
in  one  section  of  one  state  can  be  estimated  by  comparing  ued'^com-" 
on  the  map  the  number  of  villages  and  cities  which  have  munities. 


Mailing  Room  of  the  Wisconsin  Traveling  Library, 

libraries  of  their  own  with  those  which  depend  exclusively  on 
a  traveUng  library. 

Public  Charities 

249.  Causes  of  Poverty.  —  There  are  in  every  community  classes  of 
certain  persons  who  are  unable  or  unwilHng  to  provide  for  dependents, 
themselves.  Most  of  these  have  relatives  who  give  them  a 
home  and  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  rest  are  a  burden  on 
society  in  general,  and  must  be  supported  by  private  charity 
or  at  public  expense.  We  may  divide  the  poor  into  two  gen- 
eral classes ;  (i)  those  who  are  partially  destitute,  that  is,  who 
are  dependent  in  some  degree  on  public  or  private  charity, 
and  (2)  paupers,  those  whose  very  existence  depends  on  the 
help  received  from  the  public. 


278 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Personal 
causes  of 
poverty. 


Some  eco- 
nomic causes 
of  poverty. 


Remedies  in 
industrial 
betterment 
and  in  edu- 
cation. 


Features  of 
the  problem. 


The  causes  of  poverty  are  numerous.  Some  are  as  old 
as  human  nature,  for  shiftlessness,  intemperance,  vice,  and 
lack  of  economy  keep  many  from  having  their  share  of  the 
necessaries  as  well  as  the  comforts  of  life.  Only  force  would 
compel  some  people  to  earn  a  decent  living,  so  ingrained  is 
their  laziness.  Others  believe  that  the  world  owes  them  a 
living,  reversing  the  dictum  of  the  good  citizen  that  he  owes 
the  world  a  life.  Still  others  are  by  nature,  lack  of  training, 
or  temperament  unable  to  do  any  work  properly ;  they  are 
the  incompetents,  the  ne'er-do-wells,  part  of  whose  burdens 
must  be  assumed  by  society. 

Our  modern  industrial  system  leads  to  a  great  deal  of 
poverty  and  even  pauperism.  There  is  no  longer  regular 
work  or  free  land  for  every  family.  Some  occupations  are 
overcrowded,  at  least  in  the  community  where  a  laborer 
may  live.  Many  industries  give  employment  only  at  inter- 
vals. Modern  industry  is  possible  because  of  the  develop- 
ment of  huge  and  dangerous  machines,  but  labor  has  paid 
a  heavy  toll  in  maimed  limbs  and  in  diseased  or  distorted 
bodies.  The  injury  or  death  of  the  chief  wage  earner  of  a 
family  is  a  prolific  cause  of  poverty. 

250.  The  Problem  of  Charity.  —  Until  the  causes  of 
poverty  are  removed,  there  can  be  no  solution  of  the  problem. 
It  is  difficult  to  "  make  over  "  human  nature,  but  it  is  possible 
to  find  real  remedies  for  industrial  troubles,  through  work- 
ingmen's  compensation,  plans  to  reduce  unemployment, 
minimum  wages,  and  mothers'  pensions.  For  the  immedi- 
ate rehef  of  many  victims  of  industrial  distress,  we  must  de- 
pend chiefly  on  charity  until  we  have  shown,  by  education 
of  individuals  and  the  pubhc,  that  poverty  may  be  prevented 
to  some  extent. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  pubHc  is  to  separate  those 
needing  relief  into  classes  according  to  their  disability,  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  deserving  and  the  unworthy,  and  to 
provide  suitable  help  for  those  who  may  be  entitled  to  re- 
ceive it.  These  problems  constitute  a  task  of  no  mean  pro- 
portions ;  for,  although  we  may  determine  easily  which  classes 


PUBLIC  CHARITIES  279 

deserve  aid  and  which  require  punishment,  it  is  impossible 
always  to  separate  those  individual  applicants  for  help  who  are 
worthy  from  those  who  are  not.  An  impostor  may  remain 
long  undetected  and  become  a  social  parasite,  whereas  funds 
may  be  withheld  from  needy  famiUes.  There  may  also  be 
very  great  difference  of  opinion  about  the  best  way  to  aid 
any  particular  class  of  dependents.  Especially  is  this  the 
case  with  the  most  general  problem  of  all  —  Shall  charity  be 
governmental  or  private? 

We  do  not  question  the  justice  of  the  doctrine  that  these  Govem- 
unfortunates  should  be  a  public  charge.     Society  is  a  unit,  privltecart 
and  we  believe  that  society  is  under  obligation  to  care  for  its  of  depend- 
poor  and  for  those  to  whom  nature  has  denied  some  faculty,  ^^^^• 
just  as  a  family  is  expected  to  provide  for  those  niembers 
who  are  unable  to  care  for  themselves.     This  does  not  mean 
that  most  of  the  expenditures  for  charitable  purposes  should 
be  made  through  government  officials,  for  private  organi- 
zations can  often  learn  easily  whether  those  applying  for  help 
are  deserving.     In  fact,   the  government  now  does  little 
more  than  care  for  those  dependents  who  live  in  charitable 
institutions} 

251.  Care  of  Dependent  Children.  —  Two  classes  to  Children's 
whom  society  owes  the  best  possible  care  are  those  children  l^omes. 
who  have  no  one  to  look  after  them  and  the  children  who 
have  some  notable  physical  or  mental  defect.  If  private 
enterprise  fails  to  provide  suitable  children's  homes,  pubUc 
institutions  must  be  constructed  for  the  purpose  of  keeping 
orphaned  little  ones  out  of  the  streets  and  away  from  evil 
influences.  This  is  a  most  necessary  step  in  the  process  of 
preventing  crime,  and  consequently  should  be  undertaken 

^  It  is  customary  in  cities  to  make  appropriations  of  large  sums  of  money 
annually  for  the  benefit  of  private  institutions,  —  children's  homes,  schools  for 
defectives,  and  hospitals.  This  may  be  done  because  the  heads  of  private 
institutions  or  organizations  are  able  to  discriminate  better  and  are  less  likely 
to  be  imposed  upon,  or  because  of  an  unwillingness  to  grant  help  both  publicly 
and  privately  in  cases  where  there  is  no  good  reason  why  the  government  should 
assume  entire  responsibility.  Many  cities  which  follow  this  plan  have  been 
singularly  lax  in  supervising  the  expenditure  of  the  public  money  contributed 
to  private  parties. 


28o  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

by  the  locaKties  for  their  own  safety,  if  not  for  the  sake  of 
the  children  themselves.^ 
Schools  for         A  second  class  of  dependent  children  includes  those  afflicted 
dumb^^and      ^^^^  ^^"^^  physical  or  mental  2  defect  —  including  those  that 
blind.'  are  bhnd,  deaf,  or  dumb.     If  society  owes  the  advantages  of 

a  free  education  to  its  normal  children  as  the  best  safeguard 
of  its  free  institutions,  surely  the  education  of  defective 
children  is  a  duty  rather  than  a  form  of  charity  and  should 
not  be  neglected  under  any  circumstances.     Although  they 
may  not  be  prepared  fully  for  the  activities  of  citizenship, 
this  education  brings  them  some  opportunities  and  pleasures, 
of  which  they  would  otherwise  be  deprived  by  their  in- 
firmity.    The  equipment  furnished,  the  methods  used,  and 
the  instruction  given  in  these  schools  are  usually  of  a  high 
character. 
Why  insane        252.    Care  of  the  Insane.  —  One  class  of  dependents  whose 
^ubur  ^^^  ^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^^  ^^  ^^^  government  exclusively  is  that  of  the  in- 
charge.  sane.     Our  government  performs  this  task,  not  only  be- 

cause it  is  a  necessary  charity,  but,  as  many  insane  people 
are  dangerous,  for  the  sake  of  protecting  the  public.  No 
person  is,  however,  placed  under  the  control  of  government 
officials  until  he  has  been  examined  by  experts  and  declared 
to  be  of  unsound  mind. 
Treatment  PubHc  care  of  the  insane  varies  greatly  from  state  to 

of  the  insane,  state,  (i)  Some  states  compel  each  locality  to  look  after  its 
own,  insane  persons  being  left  in  poorho.uses  where  they  are 
systematically  neglected  or  even  maltreated.  (2)  In  other 
states,  the  most  violent  patients  are  sent  to  state  institutions, 
the  others  being  placed  in  local  asylums.  (3)  A  few  states 
care  for  all  persons  of  unsound  mind  in  state  hospitals,  which 

*  More  than  half  of  the  states  have  laws  providing  for  mothers'  pensions. 
Money  is  appropriated  from  government  funds  direct  to  a  mother  in  order  to  keep 
the  family  together.  This  prevents  the  institutionalizing  of  the  children,  who 
otherwise  would  be  brought  up  in  an  orphans'  home. 

^  PubUc  institutions  for  weak-minded  children  are  even  more  essential  than 
those  for  physical  defectives,  because  weak-minded  children  are  more  helpless 
and  apt  to  be  public  charges.  Although  society  does  not  begrudge  the  care 
necessary  for  such  unfortunates,  it  is  seeking  to  prevent  the  multipUcation  of 
those  whose  existence  can  be  only  a  burden  to  themselves  and  their  fellows. 


PUBLIC   CHARITIES  281 

are  worthy  of  the  name.  In  them  insanity  is  regarded 
as  a  disease,  and  th6  patients  are  treated  not  as  criminals 
to  be  punished,  but  as  mental  invalids  to  be  cured.  New 
York  well  represents  modern  methods  in  its  care  of  its  in- 
sane, several  millions  of  dollars  being  spent  each  year  for 
the  benefit  of  the  inmates  of  its  numerous  state  hospitals. 
It  is  in  advance  of  most  other  states,  not  alone  in  its  pro- 
vision for  hospitals  under  state  rather  than  local  supervision, 
but  in  its  segregation  of  all  insane  persons  accused  of  crime 
in  separate  institutions  controlled  by  the  prison  authorities 
of  the  state. 

253.  Indoor  and  Outdoor  Relief.  —  In  addition  to  chil-  Poorhouses 
dren's  homes  and  insane  hospitals,  almost  every  community  ^^^  p°°' 
maintains  some  institutions  for  paupers,  usually  a  poorhouse 
or  a  county  farm.  In  a  few  poorhouses,  those  capable  of 
working  are  compelled  to  contribute  something  toward  their 
own  support.  Often  poor  farms  are  maintained,  which  are 
managed  without  help  from  outside,  so  that  the  institution 
is  largely  seK-supporting.  In  many  of  these  institutions  the 
practical  management  is  seriously  defective  and  often  un- 
pardonably  brutal.  This  is  especially  the  case  where  the 
aged,  the  young,  the  blind,  the  insane,  the  feeble-minded, 
and  the  sick  are  herded  together. 

Outdoor  relief  is  often  granted  by  the  overseers  of   the  Ordinary 
poor  to  those  not  destitute  but  needy.     The  chief  danger  of  ^^^^^  °/.  °"*' 

Ti  .         ,.  ,  .,.-.,.      -^        .  ,  °  door  relief. 

this  entire  system  of  relief  is  that  it  may  increase  the  poverty 
which  it  is  supposed  to  alleviate,  because  shiftless  individuals 
will  expect  help  from  the  government,  when  they  should  sup- 
port themselves.  A  few  people  most  of  the  time,  and  many 
people  part  of  the  time,  require  some  assistance  of  this  kind. 
Provisions,  clothing,  and  fuel  are  the  articles  most  commonly 
furnished,  much  more  being  done  in  winter,  or  when  work 
is  scarce,  than  at  other  times.  A  few  cities  have  estab- 
lished public  lodging  houses,  in  which  wayfarers  are  furnished 
with  beds  for  the  night  in  return  for  a  reasonable  amount 
of  work.  Sometimes  temporary  employment  is  furnished 
through  the  government  to  those  in  great  need ;  by  this  de- 


282  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

vice  the  community  is  relieved  of  those  tramps  who  do  not 
wish  to  find  employment. 
Care  of  the  254.  Other  Forms  of  Charity.  —  There  is  perhaps  no  set 
sick  poor.  q£  persons  so  deserving  of  sympathy  and  help  as  the  sick 
poor.  Needing  skilled  care,  delicate  food,  expensive  medi- 
cines, or  still  more  costly  surgical  attention,  they  are  unable 
to  protect  themselves  against  the  ills  which,  if  unchecked, 
will  cause  death  or  lives  of  invalidism.     For  the  care  of 


Scene  in  a  City  Dispensary. 

such  unfortunates,  public  hospitals  are  maintained  in  most 
cities  and  by  many  counties  and  towns.  Physicians  and 
nurses  are  paid  by  the  public  to  look  after  the  inmates  of 
the  hospitals.  Visiting  physicians,  in  addition,  may  spend 
a  large  part  of  their  time  without  pay  in  attendance  on  the 
needy  sick  in  their  own  homes. 
Work  of  dis-  Thosc  whose  ailments  are  not  serious  can  often  obtain 
pensaries  and   treatment  gratis  at  the  dispensaries,  which  are  to  be  found 

school  climes 

in  most  of  our  large  cities.  Almost  all  medical  schools  main- 
tain out-chnics  in  which  patients  receive  the  best  of  treat- 
ment at  a  very  low  cost.    Most  progressive  school  systems 


PUBLIC  HEALTH 


283 


are  doing  a  preventive  work  by  examining  all  school  children. 
Frequently  the  reUef  of  some  apparently  minor  defect,  e.g.  in 
the  teeth  or  nasal  passages,  has  changed  a  sickly  or  ap- 
parently dull  pupil  into  a  vigorous,  intelligent  student. 
This  work  of  school  clinics  may  be  one  of  the  first  duties 
of  a  school  system ;  it  is  not  a  matter  of  charity. 


Health  and  General  Welfare  . 

255.  Conservation  of  Human  Life.  —  The  removal  of  the 
causes  of  poverty,  as  distinct  from  the  relief  of  pauperism, 
is  closely  related  to  the  problems  of  reducing  the  amount  of 
sickness,  conserving  public  and  private  health,  and  prolong- 
ing useful  human  life.  Modern  science,  better  education 
among  the  people,  and  the  protective  regulations  of  govern- 
ment have  saved  millions  of  infants  and  little  children  who 
would  have  died  in  infancy  had  they  been  born  a  generation 
or  a  century  earlier.  Although  some  children  may  be  saved 
only  to  be  a  burden  to  themselves  and  society,  this  slight 
checking  of  the  wholesale  "  slaughter  of  the  innocents  "  has 
been  a  gain  to  society  as  well  as  a  credit  to  modern  civilization. 

There  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  boy  or  girl  who 
lives  to  the  age  of  five  years  will  live  nearly  twice  as  long  as 
did  his  ancestors  a  few  centuries  ago.  It  does  not  require 
much  study  to  perceive  the  increased  value  of  prolonging 
the  working  life  of  any  man  or  woman  from  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  to  twenty-five  or  thirty.  The  early  years 
necessarily  form  a  period  of  preparation,  in  which  little  is 
earned,  and  nothing  is  added  to  the  wealth  of  society.  To 
prolong  human  hfe  ten  years  means  therefore  that  two  or 
three  additional  years  may  wisely  be  taken  for  better  prep- 
aration. This  will  increase  the  efiiciency  of  the  worker, 
not  only  during  the  seven  or  eight  additional  years  in  which 
he  labors,  but  for  every  year  of  his  working  life.  Surely  this 
is  worth  while  to  the  normal  human  being  and  to  society.^ 

^  Little  has  been  done  under  public  supervision  in  this  country  through 
sickness  insurance.  The  spread  of  this  form  of  health  preservation  in  Europe 
would  indicate  that  it  is  satisfactory ;  in  time  America  also  will  adopt  measures 


Saving  of  the 
lives  of  Uttle 
children. 


Value  of  pro- 
longing the 
working  life 
of  citizens. 


284 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Reduction  of 
death  rates 
in  cities. 


Quarantine 
regulations 
for  epi- 
demics. 


256.  General  Health  Regulations.  —  During  the  last 
fifty  years,  and  particularly  since  the  opening  of  the  twentieth 
century,  there  has  been  a  great  improvement  in  the  means 
used  for  the  protection  of  pubUc  health.  The  annual  death 
rate  in  some  English  factory  towns  in  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  was  as  high  as  fifty-three  per  thousand. 
Even  within  twenty  years  some  American  cities  have  had 
death  rates  of  more  than  thirty  per  thousand,  and  the  num- 
ber of  deaths  among  little  children  in  the  tenements  during 
hot  weather  has  been  appalling  (§  9).  Recent  regulations 
which  have  protected  public  health  include  laws  preventing  the 
introduction  or  spread  of  contagious  or  infectious  diseases, 
requiring  the  adoption  of  strict  sanitary  regulations,  espe- 
cially in  cities,  prescribing  standards  for  milk,  meats,  and 
other  foods,  as  well  as  regulating  the  sale  of  drugs  and  the 
practice  of  medicine. 

There  is  comparatively  little  danger  from  great  epidemics 
as  serious  as  those  in  the  past  ^ ;  first,  because  people  realize 
that  these  diseases  have  been  fostered  by  filth,  which  is 
proscribed  by  modern  health  regulations ;  secondly,  because 
at  all  seaports  strict  quarantine  is  established  if  there  is  a 
possibility  of  the  introduction  of  any  plague. 

257.  Disposal  of  Waste.  —  Clean  streets  are  necessary 
for  the  health  of  city  dwellers,  since  every  wind  carries  mul- 
titudes of  germs  from  the  dust  or  filth  of  pavements.^    The 

by  which  at  least  the  poorest  paid  workers  will  be  relieved  of  the  extra  losses 
and  expenses  of  sickness.  Certainly  it  is  better  to  help  directly  the  worthy 
laborer  who  is  really  sick  and  in  need  than  to  relieve  poverty  due  to  sickness  or 
to  encourage  shiftlessness  and  imaginary  sickness  through  forms  of  charity. 

^  It  is  customary  to  isolate  all  cases  of  contagious  or  infectious  diseases  in 
cities.  If  an  epidemic  starts  within  a  city,  a  more  or  less  general  quarantine  is 
established  for  the  section  affected.  So  successful  have  these  sanitary  regula- 
tions become  that  the  death  rate  from  the  more  common  infectious  diseases  is 
now  much  lower  than  a  few  years  ago,  while  the  terrible  curse  of  smallpox  has 
almost  died  out,  as  a  result  of  vaccination  and  isolation. 

2  Marvelous  improvements  were  wrought  in  New  York,  1894-1898,  by  one 
man.  Colonel  Waring,  with  his  "white  angels."  Waring's  work  in  Havana 
and  Colonel  Gorgas'  sanitary  achievements  in  the  Canal  Zone  have  been  even 
more  remarkable.  In  cleaning  the  streets  of  American  cities  care  is  taken  to 
have  the  work  done  as  much  as  possible  by  mechanical  sweepers  at  night  and 
if  possible  after  the  pavements  have  been  wet  to  avoid  the  raising  of  dust. 


PUBLIC   HEALTH  285 

collection  and  disposal  of  rubbish  and  garbage  is  one  of  the  Need  of 
most  perplexing  problems   of   American   cities.     Although  ^^^^^  streets 
this  necessary  sanitary  work  is  performed  usually  by  city  systems  for 
agents,  it  is  frequently  performed  in  an  unsanitary  manner,   handling 
Some  cities  have  established  incinerators,  which  dispose  of  garbage^" 
all  combustible  wastes.     This  method  is  somewhat  more 
expensive  than  others.     A  few  cities  are  following  the  Eu- 
ropean plan  of  separating  the  solids  in  refuse  and  garbage 
and  using  the  residue  as  treatment  for  fertilizer,  but  this 
system  can  be  used  advantageously  only  on  a  large  scale. 

The  most  important  of  the  city's  sanitary  problems  from  The  sewage 
the  engineering  and  health  points  of  view  is  the  disposal  of  P'^oblem. 
sewage.     Practically  every  large  city  has  adopted  a  network 
of  sewers  connected  with  an  outfall  sewer  to  some  place  at 
a  distance. 

258.  Pure  Milk  and  Meats.  —  Good  health  is  impossible  Pure  milk 
without  pure  water  (§  180)  and  pure  milk.  Particularly  in  regulations, 
the  tenements  there  is  a  close  connection  between  the  char- 
acter of  a  city's  milk  supply  and  infant  mortality.  Almost 
all  modern  cities  have  definite  standards  for  the  quality  of 
milk  which  may  be  sold  within  their  limits.  Health  officers 
inspect  at  regular  intervals  all  dairies  in  order  to  see  that 
the  cows  are  healthy  and  the  quarters  are  clean.  Ordinances 
as  well  as  food  laws  prohibit  the  use  of  preservatives  in  milk.^ 

Local  food  inspectors  examine  meat  as  well  as  milk,  seek-  Meat,  fruit, 
ing  to  prevent  the  sale  of  spoiled  meats  or  meat  which  has  f  "^  weight 
been  kept  by  the  use  of  preservatives.     Local,  state,  and  ^"^^^^  ^^^ 
national  inspectors  usually  supervise  carefully  the  slaughter 
and  packing  houses.^    A  similar  work  is  performed  by  fruit 

^  The  milk  campaigns  carried  on  in  Rochester,  New  York,  and  other  cities 
have  resulted  in  a  decreased  infant  death  rate.  In  some  communities  model 
milk  depots  have  been  established  which  not  only  are  cleanly  but  seek  to 
distribute  milk  at  a  low  margin  above  cost.  In  a  few  cities  in  the  tenement 
districts  during  hot  weather  ice  has  been  sold  at  cost  or  below  to  preserve  the 
children's  supply  of  food. 

2  National  inspectors  may  condemn  meats  which  are  unsatisfactory,  the 
approved  product  being  marked  "  United  States  inspected  and  passed."  In 
the  canning  and  preserving  rooms  of  packing  houses  and  food  factories  especial 
care  is  taken  to  maintain  cleanliness  and  to  encourage  the  use  of  up-to-date 
methods. 


286  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

inspectors,  who  condemn  perishable  foods  which  have  been 
kept  too  long.  State  or  local  inspectors  examine  weights  and 
measures  to  see  that  scales  give  honest  weight  and  that  the 
boxes  have  no  false  bottoms  and  are  of  the  size  advertised. 
National  and  259.  Pure  Food  Laws.  —  In  1906  public  indignation  was 
state  laws.  aroused  against  the  products  turned  out  by  packing  houses 
and  manufacturers  of  foods.  The  national  government  and 
a  majority  of  states  at  once  passed  pure  food  laws.  Most 
of  these  laws  require  the  manufacturers  of  foods  and  drugs 
to  mention  certain  ingredients  of  the  product,  giving  in  detail 
the  amount  of  substances  which  are  poisonous  or  might 
be  considered  injurious.  Coal  tar  dyes,  a  form  of  coloring 
matter  which  is  misleading  rather  than  harmful,  can  now 
be  used  at  drug  stores  and  in  foods  only  when  the  words 
"  artificial  coloring "  are  conspicuous.  Certain  preserva- 
tives are  prohibited  altogether ;  others,  such  as  benzoic  acid, 
must  not  be  used  except  in  very  minute  quantities.  Oleo- 
margarine may  no  longer  be  sold  as  butter  and  must  pay  a 
ta?  of  ten  cents  a  pound.  Patent  medicine  labels  must  de- 
clare the  amount  of  certain  ingredients. 
Successes  and  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  foods  to-day  are  much  purer 
failures  of  ^^^.^^  ^^y  ^gj-g  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago.  Although  it  is 
laws.  °  ^^^6  that  the  new  laws  have  not  attained  their  object  of 
explaining  to  the  customer  the  real  nature  of  the  article  which 
he  is  purchasing,  to  some  extent  they  prevent  his  buying 
ingredients  or  commodities  which  he  does  not  want.  Even 
the  original  laws  would  not  have  guaranteed  the  excellence 
of  any  food  or  drug;  as  intrepreted  by  the  courts  some 
regulations  which  were  supposed  to  have  been  enacted  origi- 
nally no  longer  limit  the  unscrupulous  manufacturer  of  foods 
or  drugs.  We  still  need  laws  which  will  protect  not  only 
the  public  but  the  honest  manufacturers  from  the  dishonest 
producers  of  foods. 
Conditions  260.    Control  of  the  Liquor  Business.  —  As  intoxicating 

and  forms  of  Hquors  injure  health  and  are  held  responsible  for  a  large  part 
contro.  ^£  ^j^^  poverty  and  crime  in  existence,  government  control 

of  the  liquor  business  is  less  for  the  development  of  public 


GENERAL  WELFARE  287 

&<l.fle».l7. 


^iilg-fiflj  Congrfss  0f  t|c  Slnttcb  States  vf  ^mma; 

Jit  the  ^ecotid  Jessioti, 

Begtm  and  beU  at  the  City  of  Washington  on  Monday,  the  Hdrd  dsf  ct 
one  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seventeen. 

JOINT  RESOLUTION 

Proposing  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  tbe  United  States. 


Sesolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
Sfatea  of  America  in  Oonijress  assembled  (tw<hthirda  of  each  House  coneur- 
ring  therein).  That  the  following  amendment  to  the  Constitution  be,  and  hereby 
is,  proposed  to  the  States,  to  become  valid  aa  a  part  of  the  Constitution  when 
ratified  by  the  legislatures  of  the  several  States  as  provided  by  the  Constitution: 

"Article  — . 

"Section  1.  After  one  year  from  the  ratification  of  this  article  tbe 
manufacture,  sale,  or  transportation  of  intoxicating  liquord  within,  the 
importation  thereof  into,  or  the  exjwrtetion  thereof  from  the  United  States  and 
nil  territory  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof  for  beverage  purposes  is  hereby 
prohibited. 

"  Sec.  2.  The  Congress  and  the  several  States  shall  have  concurrent  power 
to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation. 

"  Sec.  3.  This  article  shall  be  inoperative  unless  it  shall  have  been  ratified 
as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  by  the  legislatures  of  the  sevei&l  States, 
as  provided  in  the  Constitution,  within  seven  years  from  the  date  of  the 
submission  hereof  to  the  States  by  the  Congress.' 


Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatieet. 

Vice  President  of  the  United  States  and 

President  of  th«  SeiuUe. 


Harris  and  Ewing 


288 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Prohibition 
amendment 
of  the 
national 
Constitution 


morality  than  for  the  protection  of  the  public.  Until 
1919  the  liquor  business  was  controlled  almost  entirely 
through  state  constitutions  and  laws,  although  a  few  na- 
tional laws  had  been  passed  to  regulate  the  interstate  liquor 
trade.  A  number  of  war  measures  were  enacted  which 
restricted  the  use  of  grains  in  the  manufacture  of  different 
kinds  of  liquor.  The  last  of  this  war  legislation  prohibited 
absolutely  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  liquor  after  July  i ,  1919. 
In  December,  191 7,  both  houses  of  Congress  passed,  by 
more  than  two  thirds  majorities,  a  resolution  amending 
the  United  States  Constitution  by  prohibiting  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  liquors  of  all  kinds.  By  January  16, 
19 19,  this  had  been  ratified  by  the  legislatures  in  three 
fourths  of  the  states  and  had  been  adopted  as  the  eight- 
eenth amendment.  It  went  into  effect  one  year  later.  The 
law  is  enforced  by  federal  officers.  As  most  offenders  have 
much  respect  for  Uncle  Sam's  men,  the  amendment,  which 
is  easily  forced  on  a  national  scale,  has  made  prohibition  a 
fact  as  well  as  a  law. 

General  References 

Hart,  Actual  Government,  535-671. 

Wright,  Practical  Sociology,  177-207,  331-332,  390-403. 

Boone,  Education  in  the  United  States,  esp.  79-116. 

Beard,  American  City  Government,  158-189,  261-333. 

Zueblin,  American  Municipal  Progress,  73-129,  177-270. 

Warner,  American  Charities. 

Towne,  Social  Problems. 

Henderson,  Dependent,  Defective,  and  Delinquent  Classes. 

New  Encyclopedia  of  Social  Reform,  articles  on  "Charities,"  "Educa- 
tion," "Housing,"  "Liquor  traffic,"  "Local  option,"  "Pauperism," 
"Poverty,"  "Prohibition,"  "Temperance,"  etc. 


Topics 

The  School  as  a  Social  Center  :  Ward,  E.  J.,  in  National  Educa- 
tion Association  Proceedings,  1912,  436-449 ;  Curtis,  H.  S.,  in  American 
City,  7  (1912),  14-17,  133-137;  Mayer,  M.  J.,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  44 
(1911),  201-208;  King,  I  (ed.).  Social  Aspects  of  Education,  64-97; 
Review  of  Reviews,  50  (1914),  200-205;  Perry,  C.  A.,  in  United  States 
Bureau  Educational  Bulletin  28  (1915),  1-67. 


GENERAL  WELFARE  289 

Care  of  Dependent  Children:  Mangold,  Child  Problems,  293- 
345;  Warner,  American  Charities,  220-228;  Henderson,  Dependent, 
Defective,  and  Delinquent  Classes,  98-120;  169-182 ;  McMurtrie,  D.  C, 
in  The  Survey,  27  (1911),  1208-1211. 

Protection  of  the  Public  Health  :  BruSre,  New  City  Government, 
401-413 ;  Beard,  American  City  Government,  261-286 ;  McGrath,  W.  M., 
in  Survey,  27  (1912),  1501-1514;  Oyen,  H.,  in  World's  Work,  23  (1912), 
510-521;  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  37  (1911),  3-12,  123-126, 
192-220,  250-260. 

Prohibition  and  Local  Option:  Lamed  (ed.),  History  for  Ready 
Reference,  VII,  15-18;  Review  of  Reviews,  39  (1909),  601-604;  Inde- 
pendent, 67  (1909),  168-178 ;  202-203  ;  Annals  of  the  American  Academy j 
32  (1908),  598-603;  Towne,  Social  Problems,  256-284. 

Studies 

1.  New  England  grammar  schools  of  the  eighteenth  century.    Small, 
W.  H.,  in  School  Review,  14  (1906),  42-56. 

2.  Dangers  in  our  educational  system.    Hall,  G.  S.,  in  Nov  England 
Magazine,  35  (1907),  667-675. 

3.  State  aid  to  high  schools.     Bolton,  F.  E.,  in  Educational  Review, 
31  (1906),  141-166. 

4.  Country  library  pioneering  in  Massachusetts.     Titus,  E.  K.,  in 
World  To-day,  9  (1905),  1188-1194. 

5.  Cincinnati's  municipal  university.    Review  of  Reviews,  47  (1913), 
59-62. 

6.  Outdoor  education  in  cities,  Zueblin,  American  Municipal  Prog- 
ress, 195-210. 

7.  Continuation,  cooperative,  and  collegiate  city  schools.     Zueblin, 
American  Municipal  Progress,  220—227. 

8.  Causes  of  poverty.     Ell  wood.  Sociology  and  Modern  Social  Prob- 
lems (289-300);  Towne,  Social  Problems,  290-301. 

9.  Charity  organization.     Hayes,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  So- 
ciology, 189-208. 

10.  The  blind.    Towne;  Social  Problems,  1 61-173. 

11.  The  deaf.    Towne,  Social  Problems,  17 4-1S1. 

12.  The  feeble-minded  and  insane,    Towne,  Social  Problems,  1S4.-204.. 

13.  Conservation  of  human  life.  Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.). 
Materials  for  the  Study  of  Elementary  Economics,  123-134. 

14.  Teaching  sanitation  to  the  world.  Du  Puy,  Uncle  Sam's  Modern 
Miracles,  213-231. 

15.  Great  modern  hospitals.  Thompson,  W.  G.,  in  Century,  81 
(1910),  87-100. 

16.  University  medical  school  and  charity  hospital.  Welch,  W.  H.p 
in  Survey,  27  (1912),  1766-1770. 

U 


290  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

17.  Mothers'  pensions.  Craiger,  S.  M.,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  52 
(1915),  81-84. 

18.  Fight  for  clean  milk.  Leupp,  C.  D.,  in  Outlook,  loi  (1912),  190- 
198. 

19.  Disposal  of  waste.   Zueblin,  American  Municipal  Progress,  73-86. 

20.  The  sewage  problem.  Zueblin,  American  Municipal  Progress ^ 
94-102. 

21.  Garbage  question  in  small  cities.  Greeley,  S.  A.,  in  Engineer" 
ing  Magazine,  45  (1913),  101-103. 

22.  Sewage  and  garbage  problem.  Hering,  R.,  in  American  City,  9 
(1913),  111-115. 

23.  Health  work  of  Uncle  Sam  et  al.  Review  of  Reviews,  49  (1914), 
301-320. 

24.  Effect  of  the  war  on  prohibition  in  Europe.  World's  Work,  30 
(1915),  428-440. 

Questions 

1.  Why  is  free  public  education  more  important  in  a  republic  than 
in  a  country  ruled  by  a  despot?  Why  is  public  education  for  the  benefit 
of  society  rather  than  for  the  individual? 

2.  What  are  the  boundaries  of  this  school  "district"?  How  many 
schools  are  located  in  it?  Learn  the  number  of  teachers,  the  total  at- 
tendance of  scholars,  and  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  schools.  How 
many  members  are  there  in  our  school  board  ?  Do  all  go  out  of  office  at 
the  same  time  ? 

3.  What  different  free  public  schools  are  maintained  by  this  state? 
Are  they  highly  coordinated,  that  is,  do  they  work  together? 

4.  How  long  are  your  school  buildings  used  each  school  day  ?  How 
many  days  are  they  in  use  every  year?  Does  your  community  make 
use  of  any  school  building  for  night  schools  ?  for  parents'  classes  ?  for 
university  extension  work?   as  a  social  center? 

5.  Explain  several  personal  and  several  economic  causes  of  poverty. 
To  what  extent  should  relief  for  poverty  be  governmental  ?  to  what  ex- 
tent should  it  be  private  ? 

6.  Compare  a  poor  and  a  good  method  of  looking  after  (i)  dependent 
children,  (2)  the  insane,  (3)  poor  people  needing  slight  medical  attention. 

7.  Why  should  the  standard  of  living  be  raised  at  least  25  per  cent 
if  we  could  prolong  the  working  life  of  every  adult  by  five  years  or  more  ? 

8.  Name  the  most  important  regulations  for  health  in  use  in  this 
community.    Which  seem  most  satisfactory  ?    Which  are  most  deficient  ? 

9.  Look  up  the  pure  food  law  of  this  state.  Has  this  city  any 
regulations  that  insure  pure  milk  and  meats? 

10.  What  is  the  health  argument  against  the  liquor  business?  the 
employer's  argument?  the  reformer's  argument?  If  abolition  of  the 
sale  of  liquor  is  necessary  in  time  of  war  (§  334),  is  it  less  valuable  in 
time  of  peace? 


CHAPTER  XV 
LABOR  AND  INDUSTRY 

261.   The  Laborer,  His  Labor,  and  His  Wage.  —  About  Wages  and 
two  persons  in  every  five  in  the  United  States  work  for  some  contracts, 
one  else.     These  wage  earners  receive  a  wage  which  is  sup- 
posed to  represent  the  value  of  their  labor  to  the  employer. 
The  amount  of  the  wage  is  agreed  upon  by  employer  and 
employee  in  a  contract. 

A  large  number  of  important  pubhc  problems  arise  in  The  laborer 
connection  with  labor.     One  of  these  is  the  question  of  the  ^^  citizen 
status  of  the  laborer.     Formerly,  the  law  treated  the  laborer  of  labor, 
simply  as  the  seller  of  a  commodity,  his  labor.     It  is  only 
within  recent  years  that  some  European  countries  and  some 
American  states  have  come  to  look  upon  him,  first,  as  a 
member  of  society  entitled  to  a  living  and  to  decent  treat- 
ment as  a  human  being,  and  secondly,  as  a  seller  of  labor,  a 
commodity  for  which  there  may  or  may  not  be  a  market. 

Another   public   question   which   has   been   prominently  changing 
before  the  people  is  this:    under  what  conditions  does  the  conditions 
laborer  make  a  contract  with  his  employer?    A  few  years  ago  collective 
each  employee  bargained  individually  with  his  employer,  but  bargaining 
during  the  last  half  century  both  capital  (§  275)  and  labor  ^  necessary. 
have  organized.     Instead  of  a  single  employer  dealing  with 
a  few  employees  as  individuals,  manufacturing  and  trans- 
portation are  carried  on  chiefly  by  huge  corporations  and 

1  When  the  factory  system  first  developed  in  England,  more  than  a  hundred 
years  ago,  the  union  of  workers  was  forbidden  by  law.  Later,  English  workers 
were  allowed  to  organize  but  they  were  permitted  few  rights.  In  America  labor 
unions  were  almost  unknown  until  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In 
1834,  to  be  sure,  there  was  a  National  Trades  Union  enrolling  26,250  members, 
but  the  first  really  national  labor  unions  developed  in  the  period  following  the 
Civil  War. 

291 


292 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Disadvan- 
tages of  the 
employee  in 
making  a 
contract. 


Limits  of  the 
present 
study  of 
labor. 


trusts,  most  of  the  employees  of  which  are  members  of  unions. 
This  change  in  the  industrial  world  has  made  collective  bar- 
gaining necessary. 

To-day  the  individual  worker  who  seeks  an  agreement 
with  a  large  corporation  has  no  real  freedom  in  the  making 
of  a  contract.  He  has  for  sale  a  perishable  commodity,  his 
labor,  for  he  cannot  make  up  to-morrow  the  work  which  he 
might  have  done  to-day.  His  labor  cannot  really  be  sepa- 
rated from  him;  therefore  he  must  toil  under  unfavorable 
conditions  rather  than  not  work  at  all.  Furthermore,  if  he 
does  not  like  the  terms  offered  by  an  employer,  he  cannot 
afford  to  wait  until  the  employer  offers  something  better, 
because  the  laborers  are  probably  more  numerous  than  the 
vacancies.  In  other  words,  the  position  is  more  necessary 
to  him  than  his  work  is  to  the  employer.  As  he  has  little 
reserve  in  the  bank,  the  longer  he  waits  the  less  he  dares  to 
demand.  "It  is  a  case  of  the  necessities  of  the  laborer 
pitted  against  the  resources  of  the  employer.  It  is  only 
when  labor  bargains  collectively  that  its  bargaining  approxi- 
mates equahty  with  that  of  capital."  ^  These  are  some  of 
the  reasons  why  laborers  form  unions  ^  and  seek  to  make 
bargains  collectively  with  their  employers.  In  the  case  of 
women  and  children,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  public 
pass  laws  which  protect  these  workers,  as  it  is  obvious  that 
they  cannot  protect  themselves  against  their  employers  even  if 
they  are  united. 

In  the  following  pages  no  attempt  is  made  to  treat  the 
economic  problems  which  arise  from  the  relations  of  em- 
ployers and  employees.  A  few  economic  facts  are  stated, 
and  a  few  conditions  are  described ;  the  discussion  is  limited 


1  Andrews  and  Commons,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation,  p.  116. 

2  No  doubt  many  labor  unions  are  badly  organized,  badly  led,  and  ill-ad- 
vised. No  doubt  also,  when  a  union  can  get  the  upper  hand,  it  is  just  as  un- 
scrupulous as  the  worst  employer.  In  a  ^'closed  shop"  in  which  the  laborers 
dictate  to  the  employer  whom  he  shall  "hire  and  fire,"  freedom  of  contract  is 
denied  as  truly  as  it  is  in  the  case  of  the  most  ignorant  and  dependent  employee 
of  a  trust.  Both  capital  and  labor  are  entitled  to  a  "square  deal"  from  the 
public   and  therefore  from  each  other. 


CHILD   LABOR 


293 


to  four  distinctively  public  labor  problems:  child  labor, 
women  in  industry,  public  means  of  protecting  ordinary 
workers,  and  industrial  peace. 

Woman  and  Child  Labor 

262.  Extent  and  Efifects  of  Child  Labor.  —  The  number  of 
children  under  sixteen  years  of  age  who  are  engaged  in  gain- 
ful occupations  was  formerly  about  two  millions,  five  per  cent 
of  all  wage  earners.  It  is  undoubtedly  smaller  at  present, 
although  our  laws  are  not  enforced  perfectly.  Probably  not 
more  than  one  child  worker  in  seven  is  under  fourteen  years 
of  age  and  engaged  in  particularly  undesirable  work.^ 

The  evil  influence  of  child  labor  is  less  apparent  at  the 
time  than  in  the  future,  for  the  loss  of  necessary  play  and 
education  must  make  child  workers  lag  behind  in  later  years 
because  they  are  physically  unfit  and  industrially  unprepared 
for  the  struggle  of  hfe.  The  effect,  however,  upon  the  child 
is  not  purely  physical ;  at  best  he  is  morally  undeveloped. 

It  might  seem  as  though  child  labor  were  cheap  but  it  is 
not  cheap  from  the  viewpoint  of  either  the  child  or  the 
community.  If  the  child  is  able  to  manage  a  machine  which 
an  adult  had  formerly  operated,  he  is  bound  to  displace  some 
man  or  woman.  Child  labor  may  lead,  therefore,  either  to 
unemployment  of  the  displaced  workmen,  or  to  competition 
between  the  youthful  workers  and  the  older  employees,  with 
lower  wages  for  adults.^ 

^  The  largest  number  of  child  laborers  in  any  industry  were  found  in  the 
cotton  mills  of  the  south  Atlantic  cities.  Formerly  many  children  worked  in 
glass  factories  or  in  coal  breakers  or  in  shops.  Our  larger  manufacturing  cities 
undoubtedly  house  in  their  tenement  sweat  shops  many  thousands  of  child  workers 
whom  the  census  man  never  sees  or  enumerates. 

In  cities  there  are  always  a  great  many  comparatively  young  boys  engaged 
in  street  industries,  selling  newspapers,  blacking  boots,  or  carrying  messages. 
In  smaller  communities  child  labor  is  seen  at  its  worst  in  the  canneries  in  which 
hundreds  of  child  workers  may  be  found  crowded  together  in  conditions  unsani- 
tary for  civilized  beings. 

^  A  by-product  of  this  displacement  of  labor  is  noticed  when  the  displaced 
father  or  elder  brother  hangs  about  a  saloon,  spending  what  little  money  he 
can  find  in  drink.  Sooner  or  later  such  a  man  loses  his  capacity  for  work  and 
may  even  become  dependent  in  part  on  public  charity.  Certainly  this  is  a 
high  economic  price  to  pay  for  a  cheap  commodity. 


Number  of 
child  work- 
ers of  dif- 
ferent ages. 


Physical, 
moral,  and 
social  effects 


The  eco- 
nomic costs 
of  child 
labor. 


294 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Social  cost  to 
the  second 
generation. 


Movement 
against  child 
labor. 


Some  pro- 
visions of 
child  labor 
legislation. 


AT**.  ^ 


The  final  cost  of  child  labor  to  the  community  has  not  yet 
been  stated.  In  the  years  to  come  the  child  will  become  an 
undeveloped,  unskilled  employee.  He  will  be  able  to  earn 
less  than  was  earned  by  his  father.  He  will  be  less  efficient 
in  providing  for  his  own  family  than  his  father  was  for  him 
and  his  brothers  and  sisters.  In  other  words,  the  standard 
of  living  of  that  family  group  will  fall  lower  and  lower,  and 
it  will  literally  be  true,  that  their  last  estate  will  be  far 
worse  than  their  first.  Such  is  the  social  cost  of  child  labor. 
263.  Public  Regulation  of  Child  Labor.  —  During  the 
later  nineteenth  century  comparatively  few  laws  were  passed 
for  the  protection  of  children  in  industry,  but  the  last  two 

decades  have  witnessed 
revolutionary  changes 
in  child  labor  legisla- 
tion. 

Although  there  is  no 
standard  of  child  labor 
legislation,  the  national 
government  and  most 
states  have  adopted  the 
same  age  limit  —  four- 
teen years — under 
which  children  may  not 
work  regularly  for  pay. 
Many  of  these  laws 
also  prohibit  night  work 
and  work  in  mines,  quar- 
ries, and  glass  factories 
for  children  under  six- 
teen years  of  age. 
Work  either  day  or  night  is  sometimes  prohibited  in  certain  ob- 
jectionable industries.  Nearly  a  third  of  our  states  also  have 
definite  legislation  on  street  industries.  A  national  child 
labor  law  (191 6)  was  declared  unconstitutional,  but  Congress 
protected  child  workers  during  the  war,  and  a  new  law  will 
undoubtedly  be  enacted  soon. 


(^Underwood  and  Underwood. 
Child  Labor  Formerly  in  Use  in  a 
Cotton  Mill. 


CHILD   LABOR 


295 


In  general  the  American  public  is  satisfied  if  our  legisla- 
tors make  good  laws.  We  pay  comparatively  little  atten- 
tion to  their  enforcement,  although  we  know  that  a  fairly 
good  law  which  is  enforced  is  far  better  than  a  very  good  law 
which  is  not  enforced.  Few  states  make  any  adequate  pro- 
vision for  state  inspectors.  If  the  enforcement  of  our  laws 
is  left  to  local  inspectors,  there  is  little  or  no  cooperation 
between  the  state  and  local  inspectors.  How  many  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  cases  of  children  who  are  below  the 
legal  age  limit  have  been  discovered  in  factories !  It  is  not 
enough  to  prescribe  a  minimum  age  for  workers ;  the  govern- 
ment must  require  either  a  birth  certificate  which  will  prove 
conclusively  the  age  of  the  child  or  some  other  equally  satis- 
factory proof  of  age. 

The  schools  should  do  far  more  than  they  have  done. 
If  an  attractive  scheme  of  studies  is  offered,  if  the  school  law 
requires  attendance  to  the  age  of  sixteen,  if  the  truant  officer 
enforces  compulsory  attendance,  there  will  be  no  material 
which  greedy  employers  can  secure  for  child  slavery. 

264.  Women  as  Wage  Earners.  —  Before  the  Civil  War 
comparatively  few  women  were  engaged  in  industry.  About 
the  only  way  in  which  women  could  and  did  earn  money 
regularly  was  as  domestic  servants  in  some  family  other 
than  their  own.  After  the  Civil  War  conditions  changed  con- 
siderably. The  number  of  women  school  teachers  increased. 
The  number  of  factories  in  which  women  could  manage  ma- 
chines more  successfully  than  men  multiplied  rapidly.  Other 
occupations  requiring  skill,  tact,  or  deftness  appealed  to 
women  workers.  Stores  began  to  employ  girls  and  young 
women  as  clerks.  The  public  came  to  tolerate  women  in  the 
learned  professions,  as  clergymen,  lawyers,  and  architects.^ 


The  problem 
of  enforcing 
laws. 


How  the 
schools  may 
end  child 
labor. 


Women  in 
industry 
during  the 
nineteenth 
century. 


1  In  1870  only  thirteen  per  cent  of  the  wage  earners  in  the  United  States  were 
women.  In  1890  the  percentage  had  risen  to  seventeen  and  four  tenths,  and 
by  iQoo  to  nearly  twenty  per  cent.  We  find  that  nearly  one  half  of  all  these 
women  workers  are  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  years  of  age,  and  not  more  than 
one  in  five  is  more  than  forty  years  of  age. 

About  two  women  workers  out  of  every  five  are  still  engaged  in  domestic  serv- 
ice.   Nearly  two  thirds  as  many  are  at  work  in  factories  or  mills,  the  remainder 


296 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Why  women 
workers  are 
ill-paid  and 
badly 
treated. 


Health  and 
comfort  of 
workers  in 
factories  and 
stores. 


During  the  Great  War,  when  several  miUion  young  men  were 
called  to  the  army  or  engaged  in  war  work,  a  very  large  num- 
ber of  women  took  men's  places,  operating  elevators,  driving 
automobiles,  and  working  on  farms.  The  demand  for  nurses, 
clerks,  and  other  war-workers  drew  numbers  of  women  away 
from  their  regular  work.  From  woman's  standpoint  the  re- 
construction problem  of  labor  is  one  of  great  importance. 

The  facts  that  women  are  not  actively  engaged  in  most 
industries,  that  they  are  physically  weaker  than  men,  and 
that  they  show  less  inclination  to  organize  make  it  possible 
for  employers  to  employ  women  under  working  conditions 
which  men  do  not  tolerate.  The  pay  of  women  workers  has 
ordinarily  been  low  and  they  have  often  been  forced  to  toil 
in  factories  that  are  unsanitary,  under  conditions  of  utter 
disregard  for  their  rights  and  welfare.^ 

265.  Conditions  and  Hours  of  Woman's  Labor.  —  A  few 
years  ago  it  was  customary  for  factory  employers  to  disre- 
gard matters  which  the  law  now  requires  them  to  observe, 
such  as  the  lighting  of  rooms,  proper  ventilation,  and  sani- 
tation, which  are  necessary  for  the  good  health  of  the  workers 
and  for  the  real  success  of  the  work.  Many  factories  now 
provide  rest  rooms  and  allow  periods  of  rest  or  make  other 
arrangements  which  increase  the  efficiency  of  women  workers. 
On  the  other  hand,  some  stores  are  not  only  open  long  hours, 
especially  during  rush  seasons,  but  they  do  not  provide  the 
girls  with  seats  or  with  other  conveniences  which  would  in- 
crease their  usefulness.  Saleswomen  in  many  states,  how- 
ever, are  now  protected  by  law. 

being  interested  in  professional  service  or  in  trade.  The  greatest  relative  in- 
crease during  the  last  quarter  century  has  been  among  those  working  in  stores. 
Naturally  there  are  some  occupations  which  are  almost  entirely  monopolized  by 
women.  There  is  a  larger  percentage  of  women  dressmakers  and  milliners  than 
there  is  even  of  domestic  servants,  for  there  are  numerous  male  butlers  or  chefs 
and  Chinese  or  Japanese  cooks. 

^  The  conditions  in  the  ordinary  factory  are  infinitely  better  than  those  of 
the  tenement  sweat  shop.  In  the  sweat  shop  the  women  and  children  and  old 
men  work  long  hours  for  a  mere  pittance.  We  need  not  dwell  upon  the  evils 
of  these  industrial  dungeons,  but  in  their  dark,  dismal,  unattractive  depths 
we  find  the  condition  of  the  workers  the  worst  in  America,  a  disgrace  to  our 
democratic  civilization. 


WOMEN  WORKERS  297 

During  the  nineteenth  century  a  few  laws  were  passed  Laws  Kmit- 
which  hmited  the  hours  of  women  workers.     As  a  rule  the  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^ 
courts  overruled  these  laws,  because  the  laws  denied  to  the  workers, 
women  workers  complete  right  to  make  regulations  for  them- 
selves.i    In    1908,    however,    the    Supreme    Court   of    the 
United  States  ruled  ^  that  public  welfare  would  be  promoted 
more  truly  by  maintaining  the  health  of  women  in  industry 
than  it  would  be  preserved  by  retaining  for  them  the  right 
of  contract  in  every  respect.     This  principle  is  at  the  foun- 
dation of  our  new  social  constitution  (§  131).     Since  1908 
many  states  have  adopted  legislation  limiting  the  hours  of 
women  workers,  but  these  laws  are  not  always  well  enforced.^ 

266.   Minimum  Wage  Regulations.  —  An  examination  of  Agitation 
the  wages  of  women  in  industry  a  few  years  ago  revealed  ^^^  ^  ^^^' 
the  fact  that  the  majority  of  them  did  not  earn  a  living  wage,  for  women. 
Since  nearly  two  thirds  of  them  lived  at  home,  this  did  not 
cause  any  vital  social  problem.     Yet  the  injustice  and  the 
danger  of  paying  women  so  low  a  wage  have  caused  con- 
siderable agitation  throughout  the  country  in  favor  of  a 
minimum  wage  for  women. ^ 

However  well  the  minimum  wage  may  solve  a  particular 
difficulty,  it  is  not  a  solution  of  the  true  problem.     If  a  girl 

1  This  principle  of  health  protection  was  upheld  by  the  highest  state  court 
in  Massachusetts  as  early  as  1876. 

2  Miiller  vs.  Oregon. 

^  By  1916  we  find  that  the  majority  of  our  states  had  passed  laws  providing 
a  maximum  number  of  hours  per  day  and  a  maximum  number  of  hoiu-s  per  week 
which  any  woman  should  work  in  ordinary  industries.  Four  of  the  states  have 
declared  that  eight  hours  shall  be  a  day's  work  and  that  no  woman  shall  work 
more  than  six  days  a  week.  A  number  of  others  have  placed  the  limit  at  nine 
hours  and  a  few  at  ten.  Although  there  was  some  opposition  when  these  laws 
were  first  adopted,  they  have  been  upheld  uniformly  by  the  courts.  However,  our 
state  and  local  governments  have  not  provided  a  sufficient  number  of  inspec- 
tors nor  adequate  means  for  the  proper  discovery  of  offenses  against  these  laws 
and  for  the  proper  punishment  of  the  employers  by  whom  they  are  disregarded. 
*  The  laws  in  some  1 1  states  declare  that  a  minimum  wage  for  women  shall 
be  such  as  will  support  a  woman  worker  in  decency  and  some  degree  of  comfort 
if  she  is  away  from  home  and  obliged  to  pay  all  of  her  expenses.  In  western 
states  a  minimum  wage  has  usually  been  estimated  to  be  from  eight  to  ten  dol- 
lars a  week,  varying  with  conditions.  In  eastern  states  the  cost  of  living  is 
somewhat  cheaper;  therefore  the  minimum  established  is  correspondingly 
lower. 


298 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Problems 
that  are  in- 
separable 
from  that  of 
minimum 
wage. 


or  woman  cannot  earn  for  an  employer  the  minimum  amount 
which  the  law  permits  that  employer  to  give  her,  she  will 
be  left  in  the  ranks  of  the  unemployed  and  therefore  be  worse 
off  than  she  was  before.  If  we  insist  upon  a  minimum  wage 
for  women  or  any  other  class  of  workers,  we  must  also  guaran- 
tee them  education  and  such  special  training  as  will  enable 
a  normal  person  to  earn  this  minimum.  Ample  provision 
must  also  be  made  for  the  employment  of  those  whom  the 
minimum  wage  throws  out  of  work. 


Danger  of 
accidents  in 
modern 
industry. 


Why  society 
should  bear 
the  burden  of 
industrial 
accidents. 


Nature  and 
limitations 
of  employer's 
liability. 


Employer,  Employee,  and  the  Public 

267.  Industrial  Accidents.  —  Since  the  invention  of  large, 
complicated,  high  powered  machines  and  the  growth  of  great 
factories  and  extensive  railroad  systems,  modern  industry 
has  become  increasingly  perilous  to  the  workers.  A  serious 
industrial  problem  is  created  by  danger  of  accident  through 
the  carelessness  of  the  worker,  or  through  his  misuse  of  some 
comphcated  machine,  or  through  the  fault  of  a  fellow  em- 
ployee.i 

Certainly  it  is  fair  that  the  public,  which  profits  by  the 
work  and  sacrifice  of  laborers,  should  protect  them  in  every 
way  that  it  can.  Whenever  possible,  employers  should  be 
compelled  to  use  all  necessary  safety  devices.  Since  many 
risks  are  unavoidable,  and  accidents,  even  fatal  accidents,  are 
likely  to  be  numerous,  we  must  see  that  the  burden  caused  by 
these  accidents  is  borne  by  society,  because  these  complicated 
and  dangerous  machines  are  society's  means  for  increasing 
its  wealth  and  improving  the  condition  of  its  members. 

268.  Employer's  Liability.  —  The  statement  that  the  pub- 
lic should  pay  the  price  of  industrial  progress  seems  self- 
evident.     Yet  in  many  gtates  in  America  to-day  —  in  all 

1  In  the  United  States  the  overdevelopment  of  machinery  in  industry,  our 
haste  to  be  rich,  our  desire  not  to  interfere  with  individual  liberty,  and  our  dread 
of  a  paternal  government  have  made  us  hesitate  to  force  upon  employers  rules 
and  devices  which  would  protect  life  and  limb  but  might  reduce  the  number 
of  dollars  earned  in  industry. 

On  the  number  of  accidents  see  §  334. 


PROTECTION  OF  WORKERS 


299 


states  until  a  few  years  ago  —  workmen  bear  the  whole 
burden  of  industrial  accidents.  The  older  legal  method  of 
providing  a  remedy  for  an  injured  workman  was  known  as 
employer's  liability.  Under  this  the  employer  was  legally  liable 
for  damages  on  account  of  an  accident  which  occurred  in  the 
course  of  work  unless  he  could  throw  the  burden  on  the 
employee  in  one  of  three  ways :  through  the  employee's  as- 
sumption of  risk,  or  the  fellow-servant  doctrine,  or  the  doc- 
trine of  contributory  negligence.  In  most  cases  these  three 
exceptions  relieved  the  employer  absolutely  of  Hability.^ 

As  damages  under  employer's  liabiUty  laws  could  be 
secured  only  through  a  long  expensive  lawsuit,  many  negli- 
gence cases  wejre  compromised.  Miss  Crystal  Eastman  gives 
this  severe  yet  just  indictment  of  employer's  liability :  "  In 
many  of  its  principles  [it]  is  unjust ;  in  operation  it  uses  up 
time,  money,  and  good  will,  to  Httle  purpose ;  it  furnishes 
small  incentive  for  the  prevention  of  work-accidents,  and 
leaves  well-nigh  the  whole  economic  burden  of  work  acci- 
dents to  be  borne  by  the  injured  workman  and  his  depend- 
ents, with  consequent  hardship  and  privation.  It  is  to  be 
condemned  from  the  standpoints  of  justice,  method,  and 
practical  utihty." 

269.  Workmen's  Compensation.  —  In  many  states  an 
attempt  was  made  to  relieve  the  worker  from  the  entire  bur- 
den of  industrial  accidents  by  forcing  the  employer  to  pay 
damages.  This  was  done  usually  by  refusing  to  let  him  claim 
exemption  because  of  the  worker's  assumption  of  risks,  or 
the  doctrine  of  the  fellow-servant,  or  that  of  contributory 

^  (i)  If  an  employee  accepted  a  dangerous  position,  the  law  declared  that  he 
took  the  risk,  and  therefore  was  entitled  to  no  damages.  This  assumption  of  risk 
on  the  part  of  the  employee  was  held  by  the  court  to  free  the  employer  from  pay- 
ment, even  in  the  case  where  the  employee  used  a  machine  which  was  not 
equipped  with  safeguards  as  provided  by  law,  because  the  com-t  ruled  that  the 
employee  need  not  have  used  the  machine,  but  might  have  stopped  working. 

(2)  By  ihe  fellow-servant  doctrine  the  employer  was  freed  from  paying  damages 
for  all  accidents  attributable  to  another  employee.  This  placed  an  undue  bur- 
den upon  the  injured  employee,  because  most  machines  and  most  businesses 
are  managed  by  many  workers. 

(3)  By  the  doctrine  of  contributory  negligence  an  injured  workman  could  secure 
no  redress  if  the  accident  was  due  la  any  way  to  his  own  carelessness. 


Objections 
to  employer's 
liability. 


Change  from 
the  liability 
principle  to 
that  of  com- 
pensation. 


300  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

negligence  mentioned  above.    As  many  people  believe  that 
employer's  liability  is  wrong  in  theory,  most  states  have 
adopted  an  entirely  different  plan,  known  as  the  workmen's 
compensation.     By  the  first  day  of  January,  1920,  42  states 
had  provided  by  law  that  when  a  worker  is  injured  or  killed, 
he  or  his  family  shall  receive  a  compensation  depending  upon 
the  degree  of  disability.^ 
Methods  and       As  many  employers,  especially  those  who  do  a  small  busi- 
successes  of     ness,  are  not  on  a  sound  financial  basis,  the  state  law  usually 
compensa-      requires  that  every  employer  shall  take  out  insurance  in 
tion.  some  established  company,  or  in  some  cases,  with  a  state 

insurance  department.     This  protects  the  injured  workman 
fully,  since  he  will  not  be  deprived  of  his  compensation  if  his 
employer   "  fails  "   in  business.     Workmen's  compensation 
may  not  provide  a  final  solution  for  the  problem  of  accidents 
in  industry,  but  it  is  the  best  scheme  yet  tried.     It  may 
seem  to  place  an  undue  expense  upon  the  employer,  yet  in 
time  in  practically  all  businesses,  by  means  of  increased 
prices,  the  employer  may  shift  the  burden  to  the  public, 
which  should  pay  the  cost  of  accidents  as  it  pays  for  mate- 
rials and  other  costs  of  production. 
Why  unem-        270.   The  Problem  of  Unemployment.  —  If  a  man  wishes 
ployment  is     -vvork,  his  failure  to  secure  a  job  is  in  a  sense  an  industrial 
sense  a  social  accident.     This  failure  of  the  worker  to  secure  a  situation 
problem.         at  a  wage  on  which  he  may  maintain  a  decent  standard  of 
Hving  is  one  of  the  penalties  that  we  are  paying  for  the  in- 
dustrial progress  of  the  last  two  centuries.     We  are  begging 
the  question  if  we  maintain  that  it  is  the  fault  of  the  man  if 
he  does  not  secure  and  keep  a  position.    Admitting  that  the 

1  For  example :  in  the  state  of  California  if  a  man  is  killed  in  the  course  of  ordi- 
nary employment,  with  the  exception  of  farm  laborers  and  some  others,  his 
family  receives  a  sum  equivalent  to  65  per  cent  of  his  wages  for  three  years, 
although  the  three  years'  wages  must  not  be  less  than  $1000  nor  more  than 
$5000.  If  a  workman  is  injured,  he  receives  65  per  cent  of  the  wages  which  he 
loses  during  the  time  he  is  out  of  work.  There  is  a  state  industrial  commission 
which  supervises  the  operation  of  this  law,  sends  out  oflBcials  who  decide  the 
degree  of  disability  in  any  dispute  between  the  employer  and  the  employee  owing 
to  an  accident,  and  decides  the  amount  of  comp)ensation  which  the  employer 
must  give. 


PROTECTION  OF  WORKERS 


301 


workman's  failure  may  be  due  to  his  lack  of  preparation,  to 
his  lack  of  skill,  even  to  intemperance  or  to  personal  traits 
which  make  him  an  undesirable  employee,  we  must  admit 
that  society  owed  him,  yet  it  probably  may  not  have  given 
him,  an  opportunity  to  become  skilled  and  dependable.  If 
his  education  is  defective,  and  his  education  in  a  sense  in- 
cludes his  character,  the  fault  may  be  less  his  than  that  of 
society.  If  there  is  no  work  for  a  willing  and  capable  worker, 
the  fault  is  society's ;  it  is  the  misfortune  rather  than  the 
fault  of  the  man  himself. 

It  is  probably  impossible  in  this  country  to  determine  with 
exactness  the  number  of  workers  who  are  not  employed. 
Statistics  seem  to  indicate,  however,  that  one  worker  in  forty 
is  idle  most  of  the  time  and  that  at  least  one  in  five  lacks 
employment  from  one  to  six  months  every  year. 

In  the  United  States  comparatively  little  has  been  done 
toward  securing  work  for  these  misplaced  members  of  in- 
dustrial society.  In  twenty-three  states,  to  be  sure,  state  or 
municipal  employment  bureaus  have  been  provided.  Some 
of  these  try  through  the  post  office  to  bring  together  em- 
ployers and  workers.  A  few  of  the  municipal  or  local  bureaus, 
especially  those  in  Seattle  and  in  cities  of  Illinois,  have 
attained  considerable  success,  if  we  consider  the  number  of 
positions  filled.  During  recent  years  the  national  govern- 
ment has  sought  through  the  post  office  to  inform  unem- 
ployed persons  of  opportunities  to  work.  Private  agencies 
are  maintained  in  almost  all  large  cities,  but  they  are  often 
unlicensed,  and  in  many  cases  are  a  positive  evil.^ 

When  we  compare  public  assistance  to  the  unemployed 
in  the  United  States  and  in  Europe,  we  are  compelled  to 
admit  that  European  countries  have  done  far  more  to  solve 
this  perplexing  question  than  we  have.     In  order  that  we 

^  There  have  been  agencies  which  made  a  business  of  cooperating  with  fore- 
men in  mines  or  shops.  The  agency  secured  a  situation  for  a  man,  sharing 
the  commission  with  the  foreman  who  discharged  the  man  within  a  short  time ; 
then  the  agency  secured  a  position  for  this  man  with  another  foreman  on  the 
same  terms  and  provided  a  second  worker  for  the  old  foreman  with  the  same 
division  of  commissions. 


Extent  of 
unemploy- 
ment. 


What  has 
been  done  by 
a  few  govern- 
ment em- 
ployment 
agencies. 


Govern- 
mental pro- 
vision in 
Europe  and 
in  America 
to  reduce 
unemploy- 
ment. 


302 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Definition 
and  benefits 
of  strikes. 


Is  industrial 

warfare 

aecessary? 


may  not  interfere  with  individual  liberty,  the  American 
people  have  neglected  a  problem  which  cannot  easily  adjust 
itself.i 

271.  Some  Aspects  of  Industrial  Warfare.  —  A  strike  is  a 
concerted  temporary  withdrawal  from  work  of  a  group  of 
employees  for  the  purpose  of  securing  more  favorable  con- 
tracts with  their  employers.  Strikes  have  been  used  chiefly 
to  secure  higher  wages.^  When  we  notice  that  only  one 
worker  in  four  in  a  period  of  twenty-five  years  is  involved 
in  a  strike,^  that  the  resulting  increase  of  wages  has  usually 
within  three  or  four  years  made  up  all  losses  of  laborers  in 
strikes,  that  workers  in  related  industries  have  in  time 
gained  an  increase  of  wages  due  indirectly  to  the  strike,  and 
that  employers  often  make  concessions  solely  for  the  pur- 
pose of  avoiding  strikes,  we  can  understand  how  valuable  a 
means  the  strike  has  been  in  raising  the  wages  of  labor. 

Is  it  necessary  for  society  to  allow  industrial  warfare,  that 
is,  permit  labor  to  make  war  on  capital  through  strikes  and 
boycotts,  while  capital  retaliates  by  lockouts  and  blacklists, 
in  order  that  labor  should  receive  a  just  wage  ?  If  so,  some- 
thing is  radically  wrong  with  us  and  with  our  methods  of 
treating  the  members  of  our  largest  industrial  class.  Cer- 
tainly there  are  some  businesses  in  which  the  public  should 

^  In  several  countries  of  Europe,  notably  Germany  and  Great  Britain,  some 
arrangements  are  made  for  insurance  against  unemployment.  Provision  is  made 
that  workmen  who  are  employed  shall  contribute  a  small  amount  to  a  fund  to 
which  both  the  employer  and  the  go  /ernment  add  sums  which  are  probably 
larger.  This  fund  is  used  under  certain  conditions  by  workers  of  these  classes 
who  are  unemployed.  Furthermore  E  iropean  employment  agencies  do  valuable 
work  in  reducing  unemployment. 

2  At  first  widespread  strikes  were  used  chiefly  as  means  to  raise  wages.  In 
recent  years  as  many  strikes  have  been  caused  by  the  desire  for  collective 
bargaining,  but  as  the  chief  object  of  collective  bargaining  is  an  increase  of 
wages,  we  may  say  that  most  strikes  are  caused  by  a  demand  for  higher  wages. 

'The  average  number  of  strikes  which  are  called  each  year  is  about  two 
thousand,  involving  two  or  three  hundred  thousand  strikers.  They  last  as  a 
rule  less  than  a  month.  During  the  last  twenty  years  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
they  caused  losses  to  workers  and  employers  of  many  hundred  million  dollars. 
More  than  half  of  those  called  by  labor  unions  have  been  successful  in  obtain- 
ing the  demands  of  labor,  and  others  have  brought  partial  gains.  Those  con- 
ducted without  organization  of  the  employees  have  been  far  less  productive  of 
results. 


INDUSTRIAL  PEACE 


303 


not  permit  strikes,  boycotts/  and  lockouts.  We  should 
not  allow  an  interruption  of  service  on  any  public  utility  such 
as  water  service,  electric  lighting,  or  street  or  steam  railway 
transportation.^  At  least  the  public  can  and  does  protect 
its  own  rights  by  forbidding  lawlessness  in  connection  with 
all  strikes.^ 

272.   Conciliation  and  Arbitration.  —  To  avoid  the  losses  National  and 
incident  to  labor  disputes,  various  remedies  have  been  sug-  of^^oncilia^^ 
gested.     Chief  among  these  are  trade  agreements,'^  concilia-  tion  and  ar- 
tion,  and  voluntary  or  compulsory  arbitration.     Compulsory  bitration. 
arbitration  of  difficulties  between  employers  and  employees 
has  not  been  used  in  the  United  States  because  it  might 
be  considered  unconstitutional,  but  there  are  several  state 


1  A  boycott  is  a  concerted  refusal  of  a  group  of  buyers  to  patronize  some 
seller.  If  the  buyers  have  no  grievance  of  their  own,  but  use  the  boycott  as 
a  means  of  injuring  or  coercing  the  seller,  the  boycott  is  compound  and  illegal. 

2  In  these  industries  strikes  should  be  prevented.  If  the  employees  need 
higher  wages  or  better  treatment  by  their  employers,  the  public  must  see  that 
they  have  the  improvements  which  they  need.  But  if  this  can  be  done  in  public 
utilities,  why  not  to  some  extent  in  other  businesses  also? 

To  avert  a  threatened  general  railway  strike,  Congress  (1916)  passed  a 
law  making  eight  hours  a  day's  work  at  the  same  wages,  temporarily,  as  had 
been  paid  for  the  old  ten-hour  day.  Later  it  refused  to  consider  a  bill  similar 
to  the  Canadian  Industrial  Disputes  Act  (p.  304,  n.  2),  and  compulsory  arbi- 
tration was  not  favored  at  all.  Other  laws  regarding  railways  were  passed, 
however. 

3  The  law  declares  that  sympathetic  strikes  in  which  the  strikers  have  no 
grievance  of  their  own,  but  seek  to  benefit  coworkers  and  thus  injure  the  latter's 
employers  are  conspiracies  and  therefore  illegal.  It  prohibits  compound  boycotts, 
for  these  have  as  their  primary  object  the  injury  of  the  producers  whose  goods 
are  boycotted.  It  does  not  allow  a  group  of  employers  to  keep  a  blacklist  of 
employees  who  have  been  discharged  by  one  and  may  not  be  reemployed  by 
another.  It  does  not  allow  strikers  to  intimidate  workers  who  have  been  brought 
in  to  fill  their  places,  although  in  many  states  the  laws  permit  "pickets  of  strik- 
ers, if  possible  to  persuade  the  new  workers  not  to  go  on  with  work  which  will 
make  the  strike  a  failure." 

*  A  trade  agreement  is  an  arrangement  made  by  representatives  of  an  or- 
ganized group  of  employers  and  an  organized  group  of  employees  concerning 
wages  and  all  other  conditions  of  work.  It  has  been  said  that  when  masters 
and  men  can  get  their  feet  under  the  same  table  the  worst  of  their  misunder- 
standing and  difficulties  disappear.  The  public  cannot  force  the  two  parties 
to  make  reasonable  trade  agreements,  but  it  can  use  its  influence  to  settle  dis- 
putes without  warfare  in  one  of  two  ways,  (i)  by  conciliation,  or  attempts  by  a 
third  party  to  bring  labor  and  capital  together,  or  (2)  by  arbitration,  that  is, 
the  settlement  of  disputes  by  a  third  party. 


states. 


304  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

boards  of  conciliation  and  arbitration  ^  and  a  national  board, 
which  have  often  been  able  to  prevent  strikes  and  to  adjust 
differences.  In  two  thirds  of  the  states  there  are  permanent 
boards  on  which  employers  and  employees  are  represented 
equally. 

Methods  In  most  of  these  states  investigation  of  disputes  may  be 

"l^^„?^  ^^^  begun  by  the  board,  while  with  one  exception,  they  must  offer 
mediation  in  case  of  actual  or  threatened  strike  or  lock- 
out. Cases  are  never  considered  by  these  bodies  unless  one 
party  asks  for  arbitration,  but  if  both  parties  agree  to  arbi- 
trate, eight  states  insist  that  the  award  be  accepted.  Other 
states  offer  mediation  through  the  state  commissioners  of 
labor,  still  others  have  local  arbitration  boards,  and  a  few 
provide  for  separate  boards  for  special  disputes.  The  re- 
sults have  been  fairly  satisfactory  in  those  few  states  which 
have  undertaken  the  work  with  the  determination  to  escape 
the  losses  of  industrial  warfare.^  It  is  probable  that  the 
near  future  will  see  more  interest  in  industrial  arbitration 
and  will  develop  better  means  for  the  successful  settlement 
of  industrial  disputes. 

1  "When  a  third  party  in  the  form  of  a  private  or  a  public  board  brings 
employers  and  employees  together  with  a  view  to  settling  some  dispute  between 
the  two  parties,  the  process  is  called  conciUation  or  mediation.  Arbitration 
implies  an  authoritive  board  or  court  which  is  empowered  to  make  an  investi- 
gation and  to  settle  the  dispute.  The  suggestions  or  findings  of  a  board  of 
conciliation  may  or  may  not  be  accepted ;  the  mandates  of  a  board  of  arbitra- 
tion are  binding  upon  both  parties.  Arbitration  may  be  voluntary  or  com- 
pulsory, and  primary  or  secondary.  Arbitration  is  voluntary  when  both  em- 
ployers and  employees  agree  beforehand  to  accept  the  awards  of  the  b:'ard. 
Arbitration  is  compulsory  when  the  government  compels  the  interested  parties 
to  submit  the  case  to  the  board  and  to  abide  by  its  findings."  Carlton,  History 
and  Problems  of  Organized  Labor,  232. 

2  In  Canada  an  Industrial  Disputes  Act  forbids  strikes  in  public  utilities 
and  mines  pending  the  investigation  of  the  dispute  by  a  specially  appointed 
"board  of  conciUation  and  investigation."  The  board  is  a  pubhcity  body  which 
states  the  facts,  not  an  arbitration  board  to  decide  terms  between  the  parties. 
New  Zealand  and  Australia  have  made  use  of  compulsory  arbitration.  On 
application  of  either  party  of  the  dispute,  government  boards  of  conciUation 
try  to  settle  the  affair.  If  they  fail,  the  dispute  is  left  to  arbitration.  New 
South  Wales  has  a  wage  board  for  each  important  industry.  These  boards 
have  done  a  valuable  work  in  the  settlement  of  disputes  because  they  know 
conditions  in  the  industry  better  than  those  can  be  known  by  a  general  board. 


PROMOTION   OF  INDUSTRY 


305 


The  Promotion  or  Industry 


273.  Government  in  its  Relation  to  Business.  —  Modern 
governments  are  very  closely  connected  with  the  business 
interests  of  the  people,  although  there  is  considerable  dif- 
ference of  opinion  regarding  the  closeness  and  character  of 
these  relations.  Many  people  believe  that  a  government 
should  limit  itself  to  warding  of  dangers  from  which  a  busi- 
ness man  cannot  possibly  protect  himself;  others  advocate 
the  greatest  amount  of  aid  to  business  in  the  forin  of  favor- 
able legislation  and  actual  money  subsidies ;  but  the  majority 
believe  that  business  should  be  protected  and  promoted  as  far 
as  is  demanded  by  the  best  interests  of  the  whole  people. 

So  much  of  our  ordinary  business  is  transacted  through 
corporations,  which  are  really  artificial  persons  created  by 
the  state,  that  supervision  of  corporations  is  essential.  Since 
at  least  ninety-five  per  cent  of  our  business  is  done  not  with 
cash,  but  on  credit,  safeguards  are  necessary  to  preserve  a 
credit  system.  Contracts,  written  or  unwritten,  play  so  large 
a  part  in  commercial  transactions  that  indefiniteness  in  the 
law  of  contracts,  or  uncertainty  in  its  enforcement,  would  be 
fatal  to  industry  and  commerce.  Moreover,  every  line  of 
activity  is  depressed  by  unjust,  discriminating  laws,  and  is 
benefited  by  wise,  fostering  legislation. 

Many  undertakings  are  of  such  nature  that  they  must 
be  performed  or  specially  supervised  by  our  governments. 
Since  canals  or  railways  are  semipublic  enterprises,  they  are 
common  carriers  and  must  not  manage  their  business  to  the 
disadvantage  of  any  person  or  community.  Public  improve- 
ments, such  as  the  location  and  improvement  of  highwaySj 
should  not  be  left  to  private  parties.  Essentials  such  as 
water  for  cities  should  be  owned  and  managed  by  the  public. 
Government  must  have  special  power  of  regulation,  and,  if 
necessary,  prohibition  over  necessary  but  dangerous  or  objec- 
tionable industries,  such  as  powder  factories,  gas  works,  or 
garbage  incinerators.  In  its  final  analysis  the  power  to  regu- 
late must  include,  if  necessary,  the  power  to  prohibits 


Views  of 
desirable 
relations. 


Government 
and  ordinary 
business. 


Government 
and  public 
interests. 


3o6 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Corpora- 
tions as 
public  bene- 
ficiaries and 
as  public  ser- 
vants. 


274.  Protection  and  Organization  of  Industry.  —  Modem 
society  has  encouraged  the  saving  of  wealth  because  it  is 
desirable  that  we  have  as  much  capital  as  possible.  In  order 
to  increase  wealth  we  permit  persons  with  savings  to  com- 
bine their  capital  in  a  single  business  organization  known  as 
a  corporation.  A  corporation  is  a  group  of  persons  legally 
associated  and  empowered  by  a  government  to  act  as  one 
person  in  doing  business  or  performing  some  other  social 
task.i    Corporations  are  endowed  by  the  public  with  many 


A  Huge  Modern  iNDUsxiaAL  Plant 

(This  plant  covers  276  acres;  there  are  47.5  acres  of  floor  space  actually  under 

roof.) 

privileges,  including  monopoly  rights  to  the  use  of  patented 
machines,^  in  order  that  they  may  do  as  useful  a  work  as 
possible.  They  should  be  subject  to  public  supervision  and 
control;  otherwise  the  privileges  may  be  used  for  private 
gain,  not  for  the  public  good. 

1  Corporations  not  only  combine  the  capital  of  many  savers,  but  they  con- 
tinue to  exist  even  when  their  members  die.  If  one  stockholder  in  a  corpora- 
tion wishes  to  sell  his  stock,  he  can  transfer  it  to  another  person.  Corporations 
are  therefore  more  useful  forms  of  business  organizations  than  partnerships. 

^  In  order  to  encourage  the  invention  of  mechanical  devices.  Congress  per- 
mits the  Patent  Bureau  to  issue  to  inventors  patents  which  grant  them  the 


PROMOTION  OF  INDUSTRY  307 

As  the  scale  of  production  increased,  a  wider  market  was  Formation 
demanded.     In  the  new  markets  much  greater  competition  f/  combma 
existed  than  ever  before  because  each  large  producer  com-  monopoUes 
peted  with  other  large  scale  producers  of  the  same  kind  of 
goods.     In  time  one  of  three  things  happened:    (i)  either 
each  competitor  limited  his  business  to  a  smaller  territory, 
which  ordinarily  was  impossible,  or  (2)  one  of  the  producers 
"  failed  "  and  was  absorbed  by  the  other,  or  (3)  the  two, 
three,  or  more  competitors  got  together  and  agreed  not  to 
compete  with  one  another.     As  the  last  was  the  most  sen- 
sible thing  from  the  business  point  of  view,  combinations 
usually  grew  out  of  the  development  of  large-scale  industry, 
expanding  markets,  and  the  resultant  keen  competition. 

275.  Successive  Forms  of  Business  Combination.  —  In  The  problem 
the  United  States  since  the  Civil  War  we  have  witnessed  ^^g'^J^gg^/jy 
several  successive  forms  of  combination  in  industry  and  in 
transportation.  The  public  has  at  all  times  been  an  interested 
spectator  of  these  changes,  for  it  has  always  opposed  com- 
binations and  monopolies  as  bad  for  the  people  even  if  good 
for  the  producer.  The  problem  confronting  the  uniting 
corporations  was  to  find  a  form  of  combination  vvhich  would 
meet  their  business  needs  and  not  be  illegal. 

The  first  form  of  combination  used  by  the  large-scale  pro-  Failure  of 
ducers  was  the  gentlemen^ s   agreement.     Thf;  firms  agreed  the  gentle- 

j.   J.  ^        '  ^     •  J.   J       '         J  T.    men  s  agree 

not  to  cut  prices  and,  in  some  cases,  not  to  invade  each  ^^^^ 
other's  territory.  As  money  could  be  made  by  breaking 
this  agreement  and  some  of  the  members  of  the  combine 
were  not  "  gentlemen,"  they  broke  their  word.  The  others 
could  not  appeal  to  the  courts  to  make  the  offender  keep  his 
contract,  because  the  public  would  probably  have  declared 
the  whole  arrangement  contrary  to  law. 

exclusive  right  to  manufacture  and  sell  the  patented  device  for  a  period  of 
seventeen  years.  It  is  diflScult  to  overestimate  the  influence  exerted  by  this 
system  in  improving  the  mechanical  methods  used  in  almost  every  branch  of 
business  in  the  United  States.  The  granting  of  cop^^rights  is  intrusted  to  the 
Congressional  Library,  to  which  application  must  le  made,  and  with  which 
two  --opies  of  each  book  or  drawing  are  left.  The  ordinary  fee  is  $i,  and  the 
exclusive  right  of  publication  is  granted  for  a  term  c  t"  twenty-eight  years  with 
the  privilege  of  renewal  for  fourteen  years  longer. 


3o8 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Nature  of  a 
pool. 


The  trustee 
form  of  com- 
bination. 


Fate  of  the 
holding  com- 
pany. 


Formation 
of  great 
consolidated 
companies. 


Economies 
of  large 
scale  pro- 
duction. 


The  corporations  next  devised  an  arrangement  called  a 
pool.  They  agreed  to  divide  up  territory  and  not  to  cut 
prices.  They  tried  to  keep  any  member  of  the  combina- 
tion from  breaking  this  agreement  by  pooling  profits.  To 
each  member  of  the  pool  who  had  kept  the  agreement  was 
then  distributed  the  share  to  which  he  was  entitled.  From 
a  business  point  of  view  the  pool  was  successful,  but  the  law 
interfered  by  declaring  pools  illega]. 

Next  the  corporations  placed  all  of  their  business  in  the 
hands  of  several  trustees  who  were  to  hold  the  stock  of  the 
different  corporations  and  transact  the  business  of  the  com- 
bination. From  this  form  we  get  the  name  "  trust."  This 
in  turn  was  declared  illegal. 

Then  the  corporations  resorted  to  the  scheme  of  organiz- 
ing a  new  corporation  to  take  the  place  of  the  trustees.  As 
the  object  of  this  new  corporation  was  to  hold  the  stock  of 
the  different  corporations,  it  was  called  a  holding  company. 
It  also  was  finally  declared  illegal. 

A  form  of  combination  still  held  to  be  legal,  unless  it  is  a 
monopoly  (§  279),  is  the  giant  corporation.  This  is  a  single 
corporation  with  very  large  capital  which  buys  out,  or  really 
absorbs,  the  older  competing  corporations.  The  old  cor- 
porations no  longer  retain  their  identity,  as  was  the  case  in 
all  of  the  older  forms  of  combination,  for  there  is  only  one 
corporation.  The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  is  the  best 
example  of  a  giant  corporation. 

276.  Advantages  and  Evils  of  Combination.  —  Under 
modern  conditions  large-scale  industry  is  inevitable.  It 
permits  a  better  use  of  capital  and  a  more  complete  division 
of  labor,  which  in  turn  lead  to  a  larger  output  than  the 
same  number  of  workers  and  the  same  amount  of  wealth 
otherwise  would  have  produced.  It  enables  the  producer  to 
buy  his  materials  in  larger  quantities  and  in  markets  where 
they  are  cheapest.  He  can  employ  skilled  chemists  or  other 
experts  and  special  time-saving  machines  which  smaller  pro- 
ducers cannot  afford.  He  can  make  use  of  by-products 
which  would  be  worthless  tc  a  small  establishment.    The 


PROMOTION  OF  INDUSTRY 


309 


profits  of  the  oil  business  and  some  others  come  from  what 
were  at  one  time  simply  by-products.  In  pork  packing 
houses,  for  example,  it  is  said  that  everything  is  utilized  but 
the  squeal.  All  this  economic  development  is  socially  valu- 
able because  it  adds  to  the  wealth  of  society. 

Society  loses  these  economic  advantages  if  the  large-scale 
producers  keep  the  special  profits  of  industrial  organization 
instead  of  sharing  them  with  the  public.  If  competition 
can  be  eliminated,  the  combination  can  not  only  reduce  its 
expenses,  but  it  can  charge  the  public  higher  prices  for  com- 
modities. Many  combinations  have  become  semi-monopolies, 
a  monopoly  existing  when  any  person  or  group  of  persons 
controls  ^  the  supply  of  a  commodity. 

Some  monopolies  are  objectionable  also  because  they  do 
not  "  play  fair."  They  raise  prices  where  there  is  no  com- 
petition, but  they  lower  them  far  below  cost  where  some 
minor  competitor  tries  to  do  business.  They  force  the  pro- 
ducers of  raw  materials  to  sell  at  the  price  dictated  by  the 
monopolist.  They  oppress  labor  because  they  also  have 
almost  a  monopoly  of  employment  for  certain  classes  of 
workers.  They  browbeat  the  railways  into  giving  them 
special  rates  or  rebates.  Some  large  businesses  were  built 
up  by  such  means,  which  are  semi-criminal  from  the  social 
point  of  view.  How  our  governments  have -tried  to  deal 
with  the  problem  of  corporations  in  general  and  of  monopo- 
lies in  particular  we  shall  see  in  the  following  sections. 


Why  com- 
binations 
overcharge 
the  public. 


Semi-crimi- 
nal prac- 
tices of  huge 
combina- 
tions. 


The  Control  of  Industry 


than  national 
control. 


277.   The  Problem  of  Corporation  Control.  —  The  control  State^ather 
of  corporations  may  be  said  to  constitute  the  great  adminis- 
trative problem  of  our  national  and  state  governments.    The 
national  Constitution  does  not  give  the  national  government 
the  right  to  control  industrial  corporations,  except  so  far  as 

^  Control  does  not  mean  control  of  the  whole  supply.  With  a  necessity  such 
as  wheat,  the  control  of  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  total  supply  enables  a 
monopolist,  e.g.  in  a  corner,  to  raise  prices  and  gain  all  the  advantages  of  mo- 
nopoly. 


3IO 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


The  problem 
of  control  by 
a  state. 


Common 
law. 


Definition  of 
the  term 
"monopoly" 
in  anti-trust 
laws. 


they  are  also  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  (§  289).  The 
whole  task  of  controlling  ordinary  corporations  is  therefore 
left  to  the  states. 

After  incorporation  in  one  state,  a  corporation  is  allowed 
under  its  charter  to  transact  business  in  any  part  of  the 
Union.  The  other  states  in  which  it  operates  find  difficulty 
in  protecting  the  interests  of  their  people,  if  the  privileges 
possessed  by  the  corporation  give  it  unusual  powers.  When 
the  control  of  one  state  is  more  lenient  than  that  of  others,  large 
companies  will  take  out  their  incorporation  papers  and  main- 
tain offices  in  that  state,  although  most  or  all  of  their  business 
may  he  in  other  states.  This  makes  it  possible  for  a  corpora- 
tion to  evade  a  strict  corporation  law,  and  makes  it  impos- 
sible for  any  state  properly  to  enforce  a  reasonably  severe 
law,  much  to  the  loss  not  only  of  that  state,  but  of  the  entire 
country. 

278.  State  Anti-trust  Laws.  —  Since  combinations  in  re- 
straint of  trade  were  illegal  under  the  old  common  law,  all 
states  may  bring  suit  against  any  combination  or  monopoly. 
Most  states  have  in  addition  anti-trust  laws  which  provide 
specific  penalties  for  specific  offenses.  In  some  cases  the 
law  prohibits  the  watering  of  stock  and  permits  the  issuance 
of  bonds  only  when  approved  by  some  state  official  or 
board.  Holding  companies  are  often  prohibited.  In  a  few 
states  no  corporation  is  allowed  to  charge  varying  prices  in 
different  localities  if  the  low  prices  in  any  place  destroy 
competition. 

The  anti-monopoly  feature  of  many  state  anti-trust  laws 
is  the  most  prominent  part.  It  is  difficult  in  a  law  to  define 
monopoly  (§  276)  because  monopoly  depends  on  "  control  " 
of  the  company,  and  a  group  of  persons  may  be  in  control 
when  they  have  considerably  less  than  half  of  the  stock  of  a 
company.  Likewise  a  corporation  may  control  the  supply 
of  any  commodity  when  its  own  output  is  a  very  small  per- 
centage of  the  whole  supply  of  that  commodity.  Much 
depends  on  circumstances. 

If  it  is  difficult  to  define  monopoly,  it  is  still  more  difficult 


CONTROL  OF  INDUSTRY  3H 

to  enforce  successfully  an  anti-monopoly  law.  -  To  be  sure  Difficulties 
Missouri  did  prove  that  the  smaller  oil  companies  operating  ^^  admims- 
in  that  state  were  branches  of  the  great  Standard  Oil  Trust,   monopoly 
Texas  followed  this  up  by  suing  the  Standard  Oil  Company  laws, 
for  violation  of  its  anti-trust  monopoly  law,  and  collected 
fines  amounting  to  more  than  two  million  dollars.     The  whole 
problem  of  controlling  the  trusts  by  state  laws  is  still  full  of 
difficulties. 

279.   The     Sherman    Anti-trust     Law     of     1890. —The  Constitu- 
national  government  has  comparatively  little  control  over  tional  powers 
industrial  combinations,  because  the  only  provision  of  the  over  in- 
United  States  Constitution  which  deals  with  the  power  of  dustry. 
the  national  government  over  commerce  or  industry  within 
the  United  States  is  contained  in  the  words,  "  Congress  shall 
have    power  ...  to    regulate    commerce  .  .  .  among    the 
several  States."      Because   the   states  did  not  succeed  in  Provisions 
curbing  "interstate  trusts,"    Congress  in  1800  passed  the  of  the  Sher- 

r^i  *       .  1  r^^  .       11  1       ^.  man  Act. 

Sherman  An ti- trust  law.  This  declares  that  every  con- 
tract, combination  in  the  form  of  trust  or  otherwise,  or  con- 
spiracy, in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  among  the  several  ' 
States,  or  with  foreign  nations,  is  hereby  declared  to  be 
illegal."  This  act  was  intended  to  supplement  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Act  (§  289)  which  had  been  passed  three 
years  earlier. 

At  first  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  law  either  by  the  Application 
national  government  or  by  the  corporations.     It  was  in-.  ^^g^^J^^^^^^ 
voked  in  1894  to  prevent  labor  organizations  from  interfer-  igio. 
ing  with  the  movement  of  trains  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce.    The  next  year  the  Supreme  Court  explained  that 
"  any  agreement  or  combination  which  directly  restrains  not 
only  the  manufacture  but  the  sale  of  a  commodity  among  the 
several  States  comes  within  the  Anti-trust  Act."    Later  the 
Supreme  Court  broke  up  several  illegal  railway  combinations, 
including  the  interesting  Northern  Securities  Company.    In 
these  railway  cases  the  Supreme  Court  made  clear  its  posi- 
tion that  the  restraint  was  not  necessarily  unreasonable  in 
order  to  be  illegal.    There  was,  in  consequence,  considerable 


312 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Suits  against 
trusts,  in- 
cluding the 
"rule  of  rea- 
son" cases. 


Decisions 
defining  the 
relations  of 
large  pro- 
ducers, sell- 
ers, and 
users. 


agitation  for  amendment  of  the  act,  so  that  combinations 
might  make  agreements  which  are  reasonable. 

280.  Recent  Applications  of  the  Sherman  Anti-trust  Act. 
—  Since  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  many  in- 
vestigations have  been  made  of  combinations  which  have 
been  guilty  of  acts  forbidden  by  the  Sherman  An ti- trust 
Law.  Many  suits  have  been  brought  by  the  national  gov- 
ernment against  trusts  that  were  monopolies  or  against  prac- 
tices of  the  trusts  that  were  illegal.  Three  or  four  of  these 
deserve  consideration.  In  May,  191 1,  the  Supreme  Court 
decided  two  very  important  cases,  those  against  the  Stand- 
ard Oil  Company  and  the  Tobacco  Trust.  The  court  drew 
a  Une  between  combinations  which  gave  monopoly  control  or 
were  in  unreasonable  restraint  of  trade  and  those  combina- 
tions or  acts  of  combinations  which  were  "  reasonable."  The 
court  practically  reversed  its  former  ruling  (§  279)  and  de- 
clared that  "reasonable"  restraint  of  interstate  trade  is 
legal  under  the  Sherman  Act.  For  this  reason  the  court 
ruHng  is  usually  referred  to  as  the  "  rule  of  reason  "  deci- 
sion. The  Standard  Oil  Company  as  a  holding  company 
was  dissolved  and  the  Tobacco  Trust  was  compelled  to 
reorganize. 

An  interesting  series  of  decisions  was  rendered  by  the 
Supreme  Court  (1912-1914)  regarding  the  rights  of  producers 
and  of  the  sellers  or  users  of  their  products.^  The  court 
ruled  that  a  producer  of  any  kind  of  goods  could  not  dictate 
to  the  retailer  what  he  might  charge  for  those  goods,  but 
must  allow  the  seller  to  fix  his  own  price.^  Since  many 
groups  of  producers,  however,  had  habitually  refused  to  sell 
to  those  retailers  who  cut  prices,  a  further  decision  was  soon 
necessary. 3    Publishers  and  other  producers  could  not  refuse 


1  In  the  Rotary  Mimeograph  Case  an  incomplete  Supreme  Court  ruled,  four 
to  three,  that  a  producer  of  any  instrument  could  dictate  to  the  user  what  other 
materials  could  be  used  with  the  instrument.  Because  this  was  believed 
to  give  a  dangerous  power  to  manufacturers,  it  has  been  forbidden  by  the 
Clayton  Act. 

^  Sanatogen  Case  (igia). 

'  Macy  Department  Store  Case  (1913). 


CONTROL  OF   INDUSTRY  313 

to  sell  their  books  or  other  goods  to  dealers  simply  because 
the  dealers  charged  prices  lower  than  those  advertised  by 
the  producer.  In  later  decisions  the  court  gave  a  long  Ust  of 
unfair  methods  used  by  trusts  which  were  illegal  under  the 
Sherman  Act.^ 

281.  The  Clayton  Act.  —  In  1914  the  Clayton  Act  was  Trust  prac- 
passed  "  to  supplement  existing  laws  against  unlawful  re-  ^^^^  u^^^^' 
strain ts  and  monopolies."     The  law  seeks  first  to  prohibit  Clayton  Act. 
practices  which  interfere  with  reasonable  competition.    It 
declares  illegal  the  charging  of  different  prices  in  different 
localities  for  the  purpose  of  destroying  some  local  competi- 
tor.    Producers  are  not  allowed  to  say  to  sellers,  "  You  must 

not  sell  any  goods  but  ours."  Any  attempt  is  illegal  if  it 
keeps  dealers  from  handling  goods  which  might  compete 
with  similar  goods  made  by  a  trust. 

In  order  to  prevent  any  person  or  group  of  persons  from  Provisions 
controlling  industrial  or  railway  corporations  which  might  {^7^"°^, 
otherwise  compete  with  one  another,  "  interlocking  direc-  opposing 
torates  "  are  forbidden,  that  is,  no  one  may  be  a  director  of   capital, 
more  than  one  huge  bank,  trust,  or  railway.     An  attempt 
has  been  made  in  the  Clayton  bill  to  legalize  labor  combina- 
tions and  boycotts,  and  to  forbid  the  unfair  use  of  injunctions 
in  interstate  labor  disputes. 

282.  The    Federal    Trade    Commission.  —  No    law    can  Organization 
specify  all  details  of  any  act  of  which  an  offender  may  be  ^°^  ^^^^^• 
guilty.     Especially  is  this  true  of  business,  which  is  very 
comphcated  and  is  changing  continually.     In  order  better 

to  regulate  corporations  which  have  never  been  before  the 
courts,  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  was  created  in  1914. 
The  body  consists  of  five  members,  appointed  for  terms  of 
seven  years  by  the  President  and  Senate,  with  salaries  of 
$10,000  a  year  each.  The  law  declares  "  that  unfair  methods 
of  competition  in  commerce  are  hereby  declared  unlawful." 
The  Commission  is  authorized  to  investigate  the  methods  of 
any  person,  partnership,  or  corporation  not  engaged  in  the 
banking  or  railway  business  which  has  been  or  is  using  any 
1  See  Williams,  W.  B.,  in  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  63  (1916),  8-11. 


314 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


©  Harris  and  Ewing. 


The  Federal  Trade  Commission 


Methods 
used  against 
offenders. 


unfair  method  of  competition  in  commerce,  if  action  to  stop 
such  method  ''  would  be  to  the  interest  of  the  pubhc."  ^ 

Parties  accused  of  using  unfair  methods  appear  before  the 
Commission,  the  case  is  heard,  and  a  decision  is  rendered.  If 
any  parties  object  to  the  Commission's  decision,  they  may 
appeal  directly  to  the  Circuit  Court  of  Appeals  (§  241). 

General  References 

Towne,  Social  Problems,  59-114. 

Young,  The  New  American  Government,  1 21-186,  369-398. 
Stimson,  Popular  Lawmaking,  205-262. 
Mangold,  Child  Problems. 
Abbott,  Women  in  Industry. 
Rubinow,  Social  Insurance,  28-202,  441-501. 

Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.).  Materials  for  the  Study  of  Ele- 
mentary Economics,  181-339,  668-761. 

*  This  work  of  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  has  nothing  to  do  with  suits 
brought  against  trusts  under  the  Sherman  Law  and  Clayton  Act.  Offenders 
may  still  be  punished  under  those  acts.  In  addition,  the  Supreme  Court  may 
call  upon  the  Commission,  if  its  help  is  desired  in  reorganizing  a  trust,  as  was 
necessary  with  the  Tobacco  Trust. 


LABOR  AND  INDUSTRY  315 

Hamilton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems,  VIII,  X,  XI. 

Taussig,  Principles  of  Economics,  I,.  30-110,  192-208,  II,  285-337, 
419-442. 

Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems. 

Carlton,  History  and  Problems  of  Organized  Labor. 

Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation. 

American  Labor. Legislation  Review,  May,  1914. 

Ripley  (ed.),  Trusts,  Pools,  and  Corporations. 

Shambaugh  {ed.),Iowa  Applied  History  Series,  1, 421-492,  II,  499-659. 

American  Year  Book,  1910-     ,  under  "Labor  and  Labor  Legislation.'* 

Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  July,  1908,  July,  1912,  Jan.,  1916, 
Jan.,  1917. 

Topics 

Factory  Regulation  for  Women  :  Stimson,  Popular  Lawmaking^ 
213-219,  226-240;  Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legis- 
lation, 168-171,  173-182,  208-224,  246-253,  416-419,  426-429;  Carlton, 
History  and  Problems  of  Organized  Labor,  278-292 ;  Annals  of  the  Ameri- 
can Academy,  27  (1900),  613-623  ;  Conference  on  Charities  and  Corrections, 
(1911),  179-186;  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  11  (1905),  312-325. 

Minimum  Wage  :  Bru^re,  R.  W.,  in  Harper's  Magazine,  132  (1916), 
276-282 ;  Evans,  Mrs.  G.,  in  American  Economic  Review,  5  (1915),  sup. 
270-277;  Wood,  A.  E.,  in  Conference  on  Charities  and  Corrections,  40 
(19 13),  234-246;  Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation, 
176-199;  Millis,  H.  A.,  in  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  22  (1914),  132- 
159;  Annals  of  the  American  Academy,  48  (19 13),  3-77. 

Workmen's  Compensation:  Carlton,  History  and  Problems  of 
Organized  Labor,  300-310;  Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.).  Materials 
for  the  Study  of  Elementary  Economics,  756-761 ;  Commons  and  Andrews, 
Principles  of  Labor  Legislation,  356-385 ;  Rubinow,  Social  Insurance, 
155-202. 

Industrial  Arbitration  :  Carlton,  History  and  Problems  of  Organ- 
ized Labor,  232-243 ;  Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problems,  295-332 ; 
Commons  and  Andrews,  Principles  of  Labor  Legislation,  124-160; 
Mote,  Industrial  Arbitration,  215-287. 

The  Federal  Trade  Commission:  Young,  The  New  American 
Government,  171-173,  178-181;  Newlands,  T.  G.,  in  Review  of  Reviews , 
50  (1914),  477-480;  Davies,  J.  E.,  in  World's  Work,  30  (1915),  no- 
114;   Seager,  H.  R.,  in  Political  Science  Quarterly,  30  (1915),  448-462. 

Studies 

1.  Causes  of  child  labor.  Ma,ngo\d,Problems  of  Child  Welfare,  271-28$. 

2.  Child  labor  permits  and  school  problems.  WooUey,  H.  B.  T.,  in 
School  and  Society,  i  (1915),  726-733. 


3l6  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

3.  The  social  cost  of  child  labor.     Nearing,  Social  Adjustment,  253- 

259. 

4.  Women  in  modern  industry.  Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Proh' 
lems,  37-55- 

5.  The  wages  of  women.  Carlton,  History  and  Problems  of  Organized 
Labor  J  409-417. 

6.  Industrial  opportunities  of  women.  Nearing,  Wowaw  and  Social 
Progress,  217-239. 

7.  Legislation  for  working  women.     Towne,  Social  Problems,  90-93. 

8.  Evils  of  the  sweat  shop.     Towne,  Social  Problems,  102-107. 

9.  Industrial  accidents.     Rubinow,  Social  Insurance,  49-68. 

10.  Ohio's   law   for   workman's   compensation.     Burba,    C.    F.,    in 
Review  of  Reviews,  48  (1913),  90-93. 

11.  The  problem  of  unemployment.     Rubinow,  Social  Insurance, 

441-455. 

12.  Remedies  for  unemployment.     Towne,  Social  Problems,  150-157. 

13.  Strike  statistics.     Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.),  Materials 
for  the  Study  of  Elementary  Economics,  705-709. 

14.  Industrial  war  and  peace  in  Australia.     Mote,  Industrial  Arbitra- 
tion, 146-166. 

15.  The  Standard  Oil  Co.     Nearing  and  Watson,  Economics,  272-285. 

16.  The  United  States  Steel  Corporation.     Nearing  and  Watson, 
Economics,  286-295. 

17.  How  the  railway  works  with  the  trust.     Keys,  C.  M.,  in  WorWs 
Work,  21  (1910),  13680-13688. 

18.  American  state  laws  regarding  corporations.     Stimson,  Popular 
Lawmaking,  190-204, 

19.  The  public  service  commissions'  law  in  New  York.    Reinsch, 
Readings  on  American  State  Government,  240-252. 

20.  Regulation  of  business.     Fiske,  Honest  Business,  134-165. 

21.  The  Sherman  Anti-trust  Law  in  theory  and  in  practice.     Hamil- 
ton (ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems,  433-441. 

22.  The    Sherman   Anti-trust   Act.    Young,    The   New    American 
Government,  141-162. 

Questions 

1.  Name  several  labor  problems  which  are  important  to  the  public. 

2.  What  are  the  effects  of  child  labor  on  the  child  and  the  community 
(i)  at  the  time,  (2)  during  the  next  generation? 

3.  What  have  the  state  and  the  national  governments  done  toward 
the  regulation  of  child  labor? 

4.  Why  are  there  more  women  in  industry  to-day  than  formerly? 
In  what  industries  are  women  engaged  as  wage  earners?  Why  are 
women  ill  paid? 


LABOR  AND  INDUSTRY  317 

5.  What  has  the  public  done  to  protect  women  workers  (i)  in  rela- 
tion to  wages,  (2)  in  regard  to  hours? 

6.  Why  should  the  public  pay  the  bills  for  industrial  accidents,  so  far 
as  that  is  possible?  Why  has  the  employer  better  opportunities  than 
either  the  employee  or  the  public  to  reduce  the  number  of  accidents 
directly? 

7.  Name  the  three  exceptions  to  the  liability  of  the  employer  by 
which  he  formerly  escaped  payment  for  industrial  accidents.  Explain 
four  of  Miss  Eastman's  indictments  of  employer's  liability. 

8.  To  what  extent  has  workmen's  compensation  been  adopted  in  this 
state?  Give  the  occupations  covered,  the  method  of  insurance,  the 
process  of  determining  amount  of  compensation,  and  the  sums  payable 
by  law  for  total  temporary  disability,  for  total  disability,  or  for  death. 

9.  Why  is  the  problem  of  unemployment  at  the  heart  of  many  other 
industrial  problems?  Must  we  not  accept  the  reduction  of  unemploy- 
ment as  a  public  duty?  What  has  been  done  to  reduce  it  in  your  state 
or  city? 

10.  Why  is  good  treatment  of  labor  essential  tor  public  welfare? 
Why  is  it  better  for  labor  to  gain  fair  treatment  through  bargaining  than 
through  legislation  or  the  action  of  industrial  courts?  Why  can  labor 
obtain  better  terms  for  itself  by  collective  bargaining  than  in  other 
ways? 

11.  What  aspects  of  strikes  should  be  prohibited  by  law ?  Why  are 
sympathetic  strikes  and  some  forms  of  boycott  illegal?  Should  strikes 
be  permitted  in  public  utilities? 

12.  What  form  of  conciliation  or  arbitration  is  in  use  in  this  state? 

13.  Explain  different  classes  of  industries,  from  the  public  point  of 
view,  showing  the  attitude  of  the  government  toward  each. 

14.  Describe  the  successive  forms  of  industrial  combination.  Give 
some  economic  advantages  of  large  scale  production  ?  What  were  some 
of  the  evil  practices  of  combinations? 

15.  Explain  the  problem  of  corporation  control.  Should  Congress 
be  allowed  to  supervise  the  business  of  all  interstate  industrial  corpora- 
tions? 

16.  What  is  forbidden  by  the  Sherman  Anti-trust  Law?  What  has 
it  accomplished?  In  what  respects  does  the  Clayton  Act  remedy  defects 
of  the  Sherman  Act?  What  is  the  purpose  of  the  Federal  Trade  Com- 
mission? 


CHAPTER  XVI 
COMMERCE 


Importance 
of  highways 
and  means  of 
communi- 
cation. 


Means  of 
transporta- 
tion before 
1800. 


The  Government  and  Commercial  Development 

283.   History  of  Means  of  Communication  in  America.  — 

The  social  and  economic  development  of  any  people  depends 
very  greatly  upon  its  means  of  transportation.  If,  as  in 
the  Middle  Ages,  the  people  have  no  highways,  they  are 
apt  to  form  isolated,  self-sufficing  communities  such  as  the 
medieval  manor.  Not  only  does  business  need  good  high- 
ways and  usable  waterways,  but  social  intercourse  or  inter- 
communication is  necessary  to  break  down  provincial  bar- 
riers between  different  communities,  states,  and  nations. 

In  this  country  communication  between  towns  or  com- 
munities was  at  first  almost  entirely  by  water.  Traders  went 
along  the  coast  or  followed  the  rivers.  There  were  a  few 
Indian  trails  which  were  developed  first  into  bridle  paths, 
then  into  wagon  roads.  In  the  later  eighteenth  and  the  early 
nineteenth  century,  turnpike  companies  were  formed  which 
established  through  highways  between  large  towns  or  cities. 
The  national  government  constructed  a  number  of  roads, 
the  most  important  of  which  was  the  national  or  Cumberland 
road  from  Cumberland,  Maryland,  across  western  Virginia, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  and  into  Illinois  almost  to  the  Mississippi 
River. 

During  the  quarter  century  following  the  War  of  181 2, 
when  interest  in  state  enterprises  was  very  great  and  there 
were  no  railways,  many  state  canals  were  built,  especially 
in  the  region  south  of  the  Great  Lakes.^    With  the  inven- 

1  The  most  important  of  these  is  the  Erie  Canal  from  Buffalo  to  the  Hudson 
River,  a  canal  which  has  been  widened  and  deepened  many  times.  Some  of 
thesfc  canals  never  paid  a  fair  interest  on  the  money  invested ;   others,  like  the 

318 


COMMERCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  319 

tion  of  the  steamboat  and  the  steam  locomotive,  there  began  Develop- 
a  new  era  in  transportation.     The  influence  of  the  railways  ^^^^  °^ 
before  the  Civil  War  in  bringing  together  the  people  of  the  communi- 
Northwest  and  those  of  the  Northeast,  and  at  the  present  cation  after 
time  in  uniting  all  sections  commercially,  can  hardly  be  ^^°°' 
overestimated. 

284.   Public    Highways.  —  Canals,    river    systems,    and  Local  de- 
great  railways  are  important  means  of  uniting  sections,  pendenceon 
but  each  community  depends  more  upon  its  local  highways,  ways. 
A  city's  streets  are  as  necessary  locally  as  is  a  railway  or  a 
river.     Country  roads  are  almost  as  valuable  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  rural  districts. 

It  is  customary  to  lay  out  our  cities  in  convenient  rec-  Location  and 
tangular  blocks,  before  the  land  required  for  streets  becomes  i^^P^ove- 
very  valuable.^     Certainly  the  rectangular  system,  which  is  Greets!  ^^  ^ 
a  success  on  the  level,  is  not  well  adapted  to  a  town  built 
upon  hills.     Occasionally  in  a  hilly  section  streets  are  lo- 
cated according  to  the -contour  of  the  ground.     All  impor- 
tant city  streets  and  boulevards  are  paved.^     Frequently 
the  assertion  is  made  that  work  on  streets  and  highways  is 
poorly  done,  although  the  price  paid  by  the  public  is  higher 
than  any  individual  would  have  paid  for  similar  service. 
Unfortunately  this  is  true. 

The  problem  of  locating  rural  roads  is  quite  as  serious  as 

Erie  Canal,  repaid  the  original  cost  and  improvements  until  they  were  made 
free.  As  freight  can  be  carried  by  water  from  the  head  of  Lake  Superior  to 
New  York  for  one  fourth  the  cost  of  transportation  by  rail,  the  Erie  Canal  at 
least  has  had  a  permanent  influence  in  reducing  freight  rates.  The  project  of 
making  ship  canals  of  the  Erie  Canal  and  others  is  really  a  national  question, 
as  the  undertaking  is  too  expensive  for  the  state,  to  which  only  part  of  the  benefit 
would  accrue. 

1  The  property  needed  for  streets  or  roads  is  obtained  by  the  exercise  of 
eminent  domain  (§  146).  The  cost  of  improvement  is  paid  by  the  abutting 
property  owners  unless  it  is  a  main  business  street  or  a  main  highway,  in  which 
case  the  cost  is  borne  by  the  general  public. 

^  Oiled  roads  usually  with  a  macadam  foundation  of  crushed  rock  are  used 
rather  commonly  for  highways  and  streets.  Macadam  pavements  without  oil 
are  used  occasionally,  wood  blocks  are  sometimes  preferred  in  residence  districts, 
and  heavy  stone  blocks  or  bricks  are  in  use  in  many  localities.  For  business 
streets  a  deep  concrete  base  with  a  smooth  surface  of  asphalt  is  used  quite  com- 
monly. 


320 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Rural 

thorough- 
fares and 
roads. 


that  of  city  streets.  Formerly  country  roads  ran  '*  up  hill' 
and  down  dale,"  but  nowadays  some  attempt  is  being  made 
to  have  through  highways  connect  the  main  cities.  So  far 
as  possible  these  are  direct,  but  avoid  grades;  ordinarily 
they  are  fairly  well  surfaced,  for  we  are  beginning  to  realize 
that  the  best  is  the  cheapest.  It  has  been  proved  by  ex- 
perience that  a  team  can  haul  several  times  as  heavy  a  load 
over  a  hard- surfaced  road  with  minimum  grades  as  it  can 
over  the  ordinary  dirt  road  even  when  it  is  in  good  condition. 
We  are  therefore  using  modern  engineeering  in  order  to  avoid 


A  Georgia  Highway. 

mud  in  the  spring,  dust  in  the  summer,  and  grades  at  all 
times.^  From  these  at  necessary  intervals  branch  highways 
are  constructed  to  meet  rural  needs. 


1  In  many  parts  of  the  United  States  farmers  are  still  allowed  to  "work  out" 
their  road  taxes,  contributing  a  fixed  number  of  days'  labor  with  or  without  teams. 
This  custom  fortunately  is  becoming  rare.  The  national  government  has  sent 
road  makers  to  different  parts  of  the  country  to  give  object  lessons  on  the  means 
of  improving  highways  and  to  show  the  folly  of  poor  roads  even  in  thinly  set- 
tled territory.  Some  of  the  states  have  expended  large  sums  of  money  building 
through  roads ;  some  grant  to  each  locality  a  sum  equal  to  its  expenditure  for 
good  roads  to  be  used  in  further  road  improvement. 


COMMERCIAL  DEVELOPMENT 


321 


285.  Governmental  Aid  to  Inland  Commerce.  —  Inter- 
state commerce  ^  is  much  more  important  than  foreign  com- 
merce, because  it  involves  a  much  greater  volume  of  trade. 
Until  about  forty  years  ago,  our  governments  believed  their 
sole  duty  toward  this  inland  commerce  consisted  in  opening 
territories  hitherto  inaccessible,  and  improving  roads  and 
waterways  over  which  interstate  trade  might  be  transacted. 
Appropriations  have  been  made  for  deepening  river  chan- 
nels and  constructing  interstate  canals,  as  the  Sault  Ste. 
Marie  Canal.^ 

Far  more  vital  than  water  transportation  has  been  the 
development  of  railways,  possibly  the  most  powerful  civiliz- 
ing force  in  the  modern  world.  The  first  railways  were 
very  short  and  were  built  principally  by  private  capital.  A 
few  cities  and  some  states  granted  subsidies  in  order  to 
develop  the  country  more  rapidly.  Michigan  and  a  few 
other  states  tried  public  ownership  of  railways,  without 
success.  As  the  roads  did  not  pay  expenses,  they  were  sold 
after  a  few  years.  The  national  government  gave  railways 
large  grants  of  public  lands  (§  314). 

286.  Consolidation  of  Railways.  —  Concentration  of  cap- 
ital and  consolidation  of  different  companies  has  been  even 
more  characteristic  of  railway  development  than  it  has  been 
of  manufacturing  (§  275).  Before  the  Civil  War  a  large 
number  of  short  lines  were  brought  together  into  a  single 
railway,  under  a  single  management.    After  the  Civil  War 


River  and 
canal  im- 
provement 


Local  state 
and  national 
aid  to  rail- 
ways. 


Successive 
stages  of  rail- 
way consoli- 
dation. 


1  For  an  explanation  of  what  is  included  under  interstate  commerce,  consult 
Hart,  Actual  Government,  p.  507,  or  Prentice,  Federal  Power  over  Carriers  and 
Corporations,  pp.  168-172. 

2  This  canal  connects  Lakes  Superior  and  Huron  and  contains  locks  nearly 
1000  feet  long.  The  annual  tonnage  passing  through  the  canal  has  risen  to 
more  than  seventy-five  millions,  about  three  times  the  tonnage  of  the  port  of 
New  York  in  one  year.  An  undertaking  greater  than  any  yet  attempted  by 
our  national  government,  except  the  Panama  Canal,  is  the  proposed  deep  water- 
way from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  By  deepening  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  the  present  drainage  canal  from  Chicago,  with  deeper  channels  for 
the  tributary  streams,  a  waterway  would  be  formed  by  which  freight  rates 
would  be  lowered  and  an  immense  impetus  given  to  commerce  throughout  the 
Middle  West.  The  project,  Uke  the  proposed  ship  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  the 
Hudson  River,  probably  will  be  completed  by  the  coming  gener&tioir 

Y 


322 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


through  trunk  lines  were  formed  out  of  old  companies,  or 
were  newly  constructed.^  In  order  to  put  an  end  to  cut- 
throat competition  between  these  trunk  lines,  the  railways 
formed  first  gentlemen's  agreements  and  then  pools.  When 
pools  were  forbidden  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act  of 
1887,  keen  competition  again  arose.  In  a  few  cases  the 
railways  resorted  to  the  use  of  holding  companies,  but  ordi- 
narily they  formed  much  larger  combinations. 
Huge  rail-  Just  as  the  giant  corporation  (§  275)  was  evolved  as  a 

way  systems    {^goi  form  of  industrial  combination,  so  the  great  railway 
ent  tfme.^^      system  was  developed  in  transportation.     The  advantages 
of  consolidation  were  quite  as  conspicuous  in  the  railway 


General. 


Union  Station,  Washington,  D.  C. 

business  as  in  the  industrial  world  (§276).  By  the  begin- 
ning of  the  twentieth  century,  three  quarters  of  the  railway 
mileage  in  the  United  States  was  controlled  by  eight  rail- 
way systems,  each  of  which  owned  the  trunk  lines  in  a 
particular  territory,  together  with  the  branch  lines  or  feeders 
which  completed  them. 

287.  Railway  Problems  and  the  Public.  —  The  railway 
is  preeminently  an  agent  of  the  public.  It  is  an  intermediary 
by  which  goods  are  brought  from  the  producer  who  has  no 

^  Most  of  these  trunk  lines  connected  the  Atlantic  seaboard  with  the 
western  Great  Lake  Basin  or  with  the  Mississippi  River.  A  second  series  of 
trunk  lines  extended  from  an  interior  terminus  such  as  Chicago  to  a  point  farther 
inland,  for  example,  cities  on  the  Missouri  River. 


COMMERCIAL  DEVELOPMENT  323 

direct  use  for  them  himself  to  those  markets  in  which  the 
consumers  have  most  need  of  these  articles. 

The  railways  are  confronted  with  this  additional  problem ;  Local  rates 
they  must  yield  a  reasonable  return  upon  their  capital.     In  and  rates  be- 
order  to  do  this  they  must  secure  as  much  business  as  pos-  petir^ 
sible.     This  means  that,  if  there  are  several  competing  lines  points, 
between  two  cities,  the  railway   must  secure   as  much  as 
possible  of  the  business  between  those  two  cities,  even  if  it 
cuts  its  rates  considerably  from  one  of  them  to  the  other.     It 
follows  that  LOCAL  rates  will  inevitably  be  higher  per  mile  than 
the  rates  between  competing  points. 

If  the  cost  of  freight  transportation  from  producer  to  Why  the 
consumer  is  too  high,  the  railroad  will  destroy  the  business  railway  must 

r.  e  \    •  'e      ^         r       '     A  "°t   Charge 

01  its  customers,  for  this  reason :  if  the  freight  rates  are  too  rates  higher 
high,  a  producer  cannot  continue  to  produce  his  goods  and  than  its  cus- 
pay  the  rates  charged  by  the  railway ;   because,  if  he  does,  p^y.^^^  ^^" 
he  will  be  obliged  to  ask  the  consumers  of  his  goods  more 
than  other  sellers  demand  for  similar  products.     In  that 
case  he  will  not  sell  his  goods,  or  he  will  be  forced  to  sell  them 
at  a  loss,  a  thing  which  he  will  not  do  voluntarily.     There- 
fore he  will  prefer  to  drop  out  of  business  and  the  railway  , 
will  no  longer  have  his  goods  to  carry.     Consequently,  the 
railway  must   charge  rates  so  low  that  the  producers  can 
continue  to  produce,  and,  therefore,  to  ship  their  goods  over 
the  railway ;   so  low  also  that  the  consumers  can  a  ford  to  buy 
a  sufficient  supply  of  the  goods  to  meet  their  needs. 

It  is  quite  evident,  therefore,  that  the  railways  should  Justice  and 
be  favored  by  the  public  because  of  the  semi-public  character  J!^^^  °f  P"p" 

...  :        ,.  ^.  Mill  •         he  control  for 

of  their  work.     It  is  necessary  that  railways  should  receive  a  quasi-pub- 
especial  privileges  in  the  location  of  terminals  or  routes,^  and  lie  crop, 
in  other  ways ;  therefore  it  is  just  that  they  should  be  con- 
trolled for  the  benefit  of  the  general  pubhc.     Of  necessity 
they  are  common  carriers,  which  must  treat  all  customers  alike. 

1  Some  of  these  locations,  as  mountain  passes  or  narrow  valleys  or  river  em- 
bankments of  cities,  make  of  the  railway  practically  a  monopoly.  Since  the 
railway  also  is  allowed  to  exercise  the  right  of  eminent  domain  (§  146),  we  can 
see  to  what  extent  the  railway  business  of  a  necessity  is  aided  and  favored  by 
the  pubUc. 


324 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Beginnings 
of  state 
control. 


Railroad 
commissions 
with  power 
to  fix  maxi- 
mum rates. 


The  modern 
state  Public 
Service  Com- 
mission. 


Control  of  Railways 

288.  State  Control  of  Railways.  —  The  first  attempt  by 
the  states  to  control  railways  came  soon  after  the  Civil 
War,  when  too  many  railways  were  built  and  each  tried  to 
pay  expenses  by  "charging  all  the  trafiic  would  bear.''^ 
In  Massachusetts  a  commission  was  established  which  in- 
vestigated the  abuses  of  the  railways  and  their  charges. 
This  type  of  state  railway  commission  depended  upon  pub- 
licity in  order  to  remedy  the  evils  to  which  attention  was 
called.  Only  a  few  publicity  commissions  are  still  in  exist- 
ence. 

Most  of  the  states  at  present  maintain  State  Railway 
Commissions,  which  investigate  the  accounts,  business,  and 
rates  of  the  railways.  They  pay  some  attention  to  super- 
vising a  uniform  system  of  railway  accounting,  but  their 
chief  power  in  the  regulation  of  the  railway  companies  is 
the  right  to  fix  maximum  rates.  Since  commissions  have  had 
this  power  for  many  years,  the  railways  naturally  decided 
that  it  would  be  a  good  plan  to  control  the  commissions. 
In  consequence,  for  nearly  a  generation,  railways  had  con- 
siderable influence  over  our  state  governments. 

A  constantly  increasing  number  of  railway  commissions 
are  Public  Service  Commissions,  which  control  not  only  the 
steam  railways  of  the  state,  but  many  other  pubhc  service 
corporations,  including  municipal  or  interurban  public 
utilities,  such  as  street  railways,  water,  gas,  electricity,  and 
the  telephone.  The  powers  of  these  public  service  com- 
missions usually  include  supervision  of  the  issuance  of  stocks 
and  bonds,  and  the  regulation  of  franchises,  of  rates,  and 
of  service.  They  also  have  the  right  to  prescribe 
means  of  safeguarding  the  lives  of  the  employees  of  these 
corporations. 

1  In  the  western  states,  in  which  railway  construction  had  been  far  in  excess 
of  the  needs,  the  farmers'  alliances  of  grangers,  gaining  control  of  the  legisla- 
ture, passed  laws  which  forced  the  railways  to  charge  local  freight  rates  corre- 
sponding somewhat  to  rates  between  competitive  points.  As  the  railways  could 
not  afford  to  do  this  and  still  remain  in  business,  many  companies  went  into 


CONTROL  OF  RAILWAYS 


325 


289.   The    First    Interstate    Commerce    Commission.  — 

One  of  the  state  rate-fixing  commissions, .  that  of  Illinois, 
applied  its  laws  to  certain  kinds  of  trade  which  was  carried 
on  between  Illinois  and  the  neighboring  states,  but  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  declared  in  1886  that 
the  Illinois  Commission  had  no  right  to  regulate  interstate 
commerce,  as  Congress  alone  had  that  power.  The  next  year 
Congress  passed  the  Interstate  Commerce  Act  to  protect 
the  public  from  the  unjust  actions  of  the  railways. 

We  have  already  noticed  (§  287)  that  the  railways  often 
charged  more  for  a  short  haul  than  for  a  longer  distance 
between  competitive  points  which  included  that  short  haul. 
This  was,  of  course,  discrimination  according  to  distance. 
In  addition,  the  railways  frequently  discriminated  between 
persons  by  giving  rebates  to  powerful  shippers.^  In  order 
to  maintain  high  rates  by  protecting  themselves  on  the  one 
hand  from  competition,  and  on  the  other  from  the  demands 
of  the  shippers  for  rebates,  the  railways  formed  different 
kinds  of  combinations  (§  286). 

The  law  of  1887  created  the  first  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  which  consisted  of  five  members.  The  avowed 
purposes  of  this  act  were  to  abolish  pools  affecting  interstate 
commerce  and  to  prevent  the  railways  from  charging  extor- 
tionate rates,  from  discriminating  between  shippers,  and 
from  charging  higher  rates  for  a  short  haul  than  for  a  long 
one.2 


Evils  in  in- 
terstate com- 
merce which 
needed  to  be 
controlled. 


Composition 
and  powers 
of  the  first 
Interstate 
Commerce 
Commission. 


the  hands  of  receivers.     In  order  to  regulate  the  railways  for  the  benefit  of  the 
public  without  forcing  them  out  of  business,  commissions  were  established. 

1  Usually  the  railways  charged  all  shippers  the  advertised  rates,  but  later 
gave  a  reduction  in  the  form  of  a  rebate  or  amount  returned  to  the  shipper  after 
the  goods  had  been  delivered  by  the  railway. 

2  The  Commission  could  hold  sessions,  call  witnesses,  and  examine  railway 
accounts  whenever  any  complaint  was  made  or  it  believed  that  the  rates  were 
unjust.  It  might  declare  rates  unreasonable  because  they  were  extortionate 
or  discriminating,  but  if  the  railway  wished  to  disregard  the  decision  of  the 
commission,  the  latter  was  obliged  to  carry  the  case  before  the  courts.  The 
courts  hindered  the  Commission  more  than  they  aided  it,  for  they  permitted  the 
railways  to  introduce  new  evidence  which  had  not  been  presented  to  the  com- 
mission, thus  making  the  decision  of  the  Commission  valueless  because  based 
on  incomplete  evidence.    The  courts  also  prevented  the  Commission  from  nam- 


326 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Composition,       290.   The  Present  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  — 

jurisdiction,  After  years  of  agitation,  both  houses  of  Congress  agreed 
power  of  the  ^^  ^  ^i^w  Interstate  Commerce  Act,  enacted  1906  (amended 
present  Com-  1910),  which  replaced  that  of  1887.  The  new  Commission, 
mission.  composed  of  seven  members  appointed  by  the  President 

and  the  Senate,  has  the  power  not  only  to  declare  rates 


Harris  and  Ewinff. 
The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  (191 6). 

"  unreasonable,"  but  to  fix  the  maximum  rates  that  shall  be 
charged  for  the  transportation  of  freight  or  passengers  on 
interstate  lines.  It  brings  under  the  supervision  of  the 
Commission  all  interstate  "common  carriers, ''  a  term  which 
includes  railways,  private  refrigerator  cars,  Pullman  cars, 
express  companies,  and  pipe  lines  (except  for  gas  and  water), 
and  interstate  telephone  and  telegraph  companies. 

ing  rates  that  it  considered  reasonable,  so  that  the  railways  could  avoid  punish- 
ment by  slightly  lowering  their  rates. 

Although  this  Commission  did  not  succeed  fully,  it  removed  many  of  the  old 
railway  abuses.  It  gave  publicity  to  railway  management  and  accounts,  it 
introduced  a  fairly  uniform  system  of  railway  accounting,  it  prevented  the  rail- 
ways from  charging  grossly  unjust  rates,  and  by  its  constant  appeal  for  more 
power,  aroused  public  interest  so  that  a  new  commission  was  created  with  more 
authority. 


CONTROL  OF   RAILWAYS  327 

The  present   Commission  can  do  much  more   than  its  Powers, 
predecessor,  because  it  may  supervise  the  classification  of  inethods,  and 

•/         X  successes  of 

freight  and  can  fix  the  maximum  rate  to  be  charged  for  the  Com- 
transporting  any  class  of  freight  between  two  points,  but  mission, 
it  cannot  insure  just  rates  between  those  points  nor  reason- 
able rates  everywhere  for  the  transportation  of  similar 
commodities.  It  may  make  investigations  of  rates  on 
complaint  of  shippers  or  on  its  own  motion.  Its  decisions 
go  into  effect  without  great  delay,  and  the  companies  must 
sue  the  Commission  if  they  believe  that  the  rate  fixed  is  too 
low.  Under  the  old  law  the  Commission  was  obliged  to 
secure  the  approval  of  the  courts  before  its  decisions  were 
obeyed.  There  are  no  long  delays  as  formerly,  because  all 
evidence  must  be  presented  to  the  Commission.  Giving  or 
accepting  rebates  is  punishable  by  fine  or  imprisonment. 
Passes  can  be  given  only  to  railway  officials,  to  employees, 
or  to  persons  engaged  in  religious  or  charitable  work.  Pri- 
vate car  and  pipe  line  monopolies  may  be  broken  up.  When 
the  railways  were  returned  to  private  ownership,  March  i, 
1920,  after  more  than  two  years  of  rather  unsuccessful  public 
management,  the  powers  of  the  Commission  were  enlarged. 
Railways  are  now  allowed  to  combine,  the  United  States  is 
divided  into  areas  within  which  rates  are  uniform  for  all  roads, 
and  the  Commission  must  allow  rates  to  be  high  enough  to 
give  a  good  net  return  on  the  railway  investment  in  each 
area. 

291.   Relation  of  Interstate  Commerce  to  State  and  Foreign   Low  rates 
Trade.  —  One  of  the  greatest  railway  problems  and  one  of  f^.''  compet- 
the  most  difficult  problems  of  railway  control  is  that  of  ^nd  for  ex- 
equalizing  rates  or  making  rates  fair  and  just  between  local  port  goods. 
points   as  well   as  terminal  points.     Under   the   Interstate 
Commerce  Act  of  1887  the  courts  ruled   first  that  points 
which  had  water  competition,  and  later  that  cities  which 
enjoyed  railway  competition,  were  entitled  to  lower  rates 
than  those  which  did  not.     The  courts  have  also  permitted 
the  railways  to  make  especially  low  rates  on  goods  which 
were  being  shipped  to  some  ocean  terminal  for  the  purpose 


328 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Interrela- 
tions of  state 
and  inter- 
state busi- 


of  export  to  some  foreign  country.  In  other  words,  the 
courts  have  upheld  the  commission  in  permitting  the  rail- 
ways to  make  such  rates  on  foreign  shipments  as  would  per- 
mit them  to  compete  in  foreign  markets.  Moreover,  the 
Federal  Trade  Commission  and  other  national  board:  have 
investigated  and  favored  means  by  which  American  goods 
could  be  exported  successfully  to  foreign  countries. 

Since  a  state  railway  commission,  in  regulating  rates 
between  points  within  its  own  state,  might  thereby  modify 
the  rates  permitted  in  interstate  trade  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  it  has  been  necessary  to  limit  the 
powers  of  the  state  railway  commissions  if  they  affect  inter- 
state commerce.! 


Our  eco- 
nomic de- 
pendence on 
some  im- 
ports. 


Congres- 
sional con- 
trol over 
foreign  trade. 


Foreign  Commerce 

292.  The  Government  and  Foreign  Commerce.  —  Al- 
though the  volume  of  foreign  commerce  is  much  smaller 
than  that  of  interstate  trade,  it  has  an  importance  somewhat 
out  of  proportion  to  its  amount.  There  are  many  com- 
modities which  we  cannot  or  do  not  produce  in  this  country. 
Most  of  our  sugar,  tea,  and  coffee  are  foreign  imports.  A 
large  share  of  the  rubber  which  we  use  for  automobile  tires 
is  procured  from  tropical  countries.  Our  experience  during 
the  first  part  of  the  Great  War,  when  it  was  impossible  to 
secure  German  chemicals  and  dyestuffs,  illustrates  clearly  the 
difficulties  which  arise  when  this  foreign  trade  is  stopped. 

Even  under  the  Confederation  (i  781-1789),  the  national 
government  had  exclusive  power  to  regulate  foreign  com- 
merce ;  but  it  had  no  real  control  over  international  trade, 
because  the  theoretical  power  did  not  carry  with  it  the  actual 
power.  All  this  was  changed,  however,  when  the  new  suc- 
cessful national  government  was  created  under  the  Constitu- 

^  The  courts  have  upheld  the  full  right  of  the  states  to  fix  rates  between 
intrastate  points  even  if  they  modify  interstate  rates  slightly,  provided  first  that 
they  do  not  lower  the  rate  so  far  as  to  keep  the  railways  from  earning  reason- 
able returns  upon  the  investment,  and  secondly  that  the  rates  established  by 
the  state  do  not  favor  a  shipping  point  within  the  state  by  discriminating 
against  a  similar  shipping  point  outside  of  the  state. 


FOREIGN  COMMERCE  329 

tion  which  gave  Congress  the  right  "  to  regulate  commerce 
with  foreign  nations  .  .  .  and  among  the  several  states  " 
and  permitted  the  President  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
Senate  to  make  commercial  treaties. 

Regulations  for  foreign  commerce  may  be  said  to  be  of  Aims  of  com- 
two  kinds :  (i)  those  which  aim  to  help  commerce  in  gen-  i^erdal  laws, 
eral,  and  (2)  those  that  seek  to  restrict  certain  lines  of  trade. 
Every  nation  wishes  to  do  as  much  business  as  possible  with 
other  countries,  provided  it  has  the  best  of  the  bargain. 
This  i3  thought  to  be  the  case  if  it  sells  abroad  more  than  it 
buys/  and  consequently  many  governments  make  a  special 
effort  to  increase  their  exports,  while  almost  all  have  tarifs 
that  are  often  quite  high  in  order  to  Umit  imports.  Accord- 
ing to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  neither  Con- 
gress nor  the  states  may  lay  any  duty  upon  exports,  but 
Congress  may  tax  imports  if  the  rates  are  uniform  through- 
out the  United  States  and  no  preference  is  given  to  one 
port  above  another. 

293.   The  Promotion  of  our  Foreign  Commerce.  —  Since  Direct  and 
our  success  in  trading  with  other  nations  is  often  taken  as  indirect 

.     1  r  •  1  1      <•  -1.  means 

an  mdex  of  our  prosperity  at  home  and  of  our  standmg  as 
a  nation.  Congress  has  passed  many  laws  for  the  purpose  of 
benefiting  our  trade  abroad.  Through  the  efforts  of  our 
consuls,  and  under  the  direction  of  the  Bureau  of  Manu- 
factures in  the  Department  of  Commerce,  information  is 
being  collected  and  distributed  constantly  which  will  aid  in 
opening  new  foreign  markets.  The  promotion  of  foreign 
commerce  is  accomplished  chiefly,  however,  through  such 
indirect  means  as  commercial  treaties,  ship  canals,'^  and  harbor 
improvements. 

One  nation  cannot  trade  advantageously  with  another  Commercial 
without    commercial    treaties.     Some    of    these    contain    a  treaties, 
provision  known  as  the  most  favored  nation  clause ;   others 
are  reciprocity  treaties.     If  a  treaty  contains  a  most  favored 

^  See  footnote  no.  i,  p.  332. 

2  On  the  Panama  Canal  see  Ashley's  American  History,  §§  438-441,  es- 
pecially §  441  on  "  Importance  of  the  Canal." 


330 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


"Dollar 
diplomacy  " 
and  other 
temporary 
stimuli  to 
foreign 
trade. 


Harbor  im- 
provements, 
and  coast 
protection. 


Needs  of 
American 
shipping. 


nation  clause,  and  either  power  which  made  this  treaty  grants 
special  privileges  to  any  third  nation,  the  same  priv,ileges  are 
secured  for  the  other  power  without  a  special  treaty  to  that 
effect. 

Since  the  opening  of  the  twentieth  century  particular 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  development  of  our  trade  in 
foreign  markets.  For  many  years  our  commercial  and  our 
diplomatic  representatives  abroad  worked  together,  our 
foreign  policy  in  some  countries  being  designed  to  promote 
our  trade  and  other  interests.  This  was  known  as  "  dollar 
diplomacy."  Since  the  Federal  Reserve  Board  (§  301)  has 
been  creating  new  forms  of  credit,  both  at  home  and  abroad, 
our  foreign  trade  has  developed  even  more  rapidly  than 
before.  The  Great  War  has  given  a  temporary  stimulus 
to  trade  with  Europe  because  the  ''  Allies  "  use  large  quan- 
tities of  war  munitions  and  still  greater  quantities  of 
foodstuffs,  but  the  close  of  the  war  is  likely  to  bring  us  in 
all  foreign  markets  a  far  keener  competition  than  we  have 
ever  known. 

294.  Protection  of  American  Shipping.  —  Every  year 
vast  sums  are  spent  in  river  and  harbor  improvements, 
deepening  channels,  building  breakwaters,  maintaining 
lighthouses,  patrolling  the  coasts,  and  using  other  means  to 
make  navigation  profitable  as  well  as  safe.  Rivers  that  are 
used  for  foreign  commerce  have  been  made  fit  for  commer- 
cial purposes  at  vast  expense. 

Foreign  vessels  have  never  been  allowed  to  compete  in  the 
coasting  trade.'-  After  the  Civil  War  shipping  declined  so 
greatly  that  nine-tenths  of  our  foreign  exports  and  imports 
were  carried  in  vessels  flying  another  flag  than  ours.  In 
order  to  develop  American  shipping,  subsidies  have  been  pro- 
posed, but  have  not  been  granted  because  we  feared  that  the 

1  Although  the  American  colonies  had  an  unfortunate  experience  with  the 
British  navigation  acts,  and  although  the  South  in  the  constitutional  convention 
feared  that  navigation  acts  would  interfere  with  their  commerce,  Congress 
sought  from  the  beginning  to  protect  American  shipping  by  the  enactment  of 
navigation  laws.  These  provided  that  no  American  could  purchase  ships 
abroad,  neither  could  any  American  ship  be  owned  in  part  by  a  foreigner. 


FOREIGN   COMMERCE  33 1 

shipping  trusts  would  pocket  them  for  their  own  use.  Since 
we  have  protected  manufacturing  by  heavy  tariffs  and  have 
given  help  (§§  305-307)  to  the  American  farmer,  to  be  con- 
sistent we  should  grant  aid  indirectly,  if  not  directly,  to 
shipping.  The  short-sightedness  of  our  shipping  policy  was 
made  apparent  in  the  Spanish-American  War,  when  we 
were  obliged  to  buy  foreign  vessels  as  colliers,  and  in  the 
Great  War,  when  our  foreign  commerce  sharply  and  sud- 
denly expanded,  especially  in  South  America  and  in  the  East. 
We  have  been  unable  easily  to  ship  all  our  exports  and  to 
take  advantage  of  most  favorable  trade  opportunities  because 
we  never  had  established  hnes  of  American-owned  ships  to 
South  America  or  far  eastern  countries. 

295.  The  Consular  Service.  —  We  have  representatives  Classes  of 
in  all  important  foreign  cities  who  look  after  American  com-  consuls, 
mercial  interests  and  endeavor  to  promote  our  foreign 
commerce.  There  are  three  important  classes  of  these 
consuls.  First,  there  are  the  consuls  general,  who  are  assigned 
to  the  largest  cities,  and  who  have  general  supervision  of 
the  consuls  near  them  as  well  as  special  charge  of  their  own 
districts.  The  second  class  includes  the  ordinary  consuls, 
who  devote  all  of  their  time  to  the  duties  of  their  position, 
and  the  third  is  made  up  of  residents  in  small  cities,  who 
look  after  American  interests  while  continuing  their  regular 
business. 

The  duties  of  consuls  are  varied  and  exacting.  They  are  Duties, 
obliged  to  report  to  the  Department  of  State,  giving  infor- 
mation concerning  the  amount  of  foreign  commerce  within 
their  districts,  including  the  character  of  the  imports  and 
the  destination  of  the  exports.  They  look  after  the  welfare 
of  American  merchants  abroad  who  may  need  their  services, 
take  charge  of  invoices  of  goods  shipped  to  the  United  States, 
aid  travelers,  and  send  special  reports  on  subjects  which 
any  American  citizen  wishes  to  investigate.  Among  semi- 
barbarous  peoples,  cases  affecting  citizens  of  the  United 
States  are  tried  in  consular  courts,  because  of  the  imperfect  . 
administration  of  justice  in  the  courts  of  that  country. 


332 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Selection. 
Reforms. 


Nature  of 
foreign  trade. 


Our  system 
of  protective 
tariffs. 


During  most  of  our  history  we  were  accustomed  to  change 
all  consuls  and  consuls  general  with  the  incoming  of  an 
administration  in  Washington.  This  system  of  political 
appointments,  of  course,  injured  the  service.  For  the  first 
year  or  two  the  most  efiicient  consul  cannot  do  satisfactory 
work  in  a  position  where  language  and  conditions  are  en- 
tirely unfamiHar.  When  the  tenure  is  brief,  because  a 
consulship  is  given  solely  as  a  reward  for  partisan  favors, 
the  result  is  disastrous.  The  reform  of  the  worst  evils  of 
the  consular  system  has  been  accomplished  by  granting 
larger  pay,  by  training  men  for  the  service,  by  making  ap- 
pointments on  the  basis  of  fitness  and  promotions  for  proved 
ability. 

296.  Our  American  Tariffs.  —  In  general  our  foreign  com- 
merce has  been  restricted  by  our  tariffs,  which  limit  imports 
and  therefore  almost  of  necessity  limit  exports,  since  a 
nation's  foreign  trade  is  in  the  nature  of  barter  and  its  total 
exports  almost  balance  its  total  imports.'^ 

The  right  to  impose  duties  upon  imports  was  conferred 
upon  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  revenue,  but, 
especially  since  the  Civil  War,  it  has  been  used  quite  as 
much  to  benefit  industry  within  the  United  States  as  to  gain 
money  for  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  government.  In 
other  words,  most  of  the  time  since  1865  our  tariff  has  been 
distinctively  protective^  The  custom  rates  have  been  high 
upon   imported  goods  which  were  sold  in  this  country  in 


^  This  does  not  apply  to  merchandise  exports  and  imports,  because  in  the 
United  States  during  the  last  quarter  century  we  have  had  a  permanently 
favorable  "  balance  of  trade."  This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  we  exchange  our  ex- 
ports not  only  for  foreign  merchandise  but  for  transportation  services  in  foreign- 
owned  vessels,  for  money  expended  by  American  travelers,  for  interest  on  foreign 
capital  invested  here,  and  in  investments  of  American  capital  made  abroad. 

2  The  effect  of  this  "protection"  has  been  to  stimulate  manufacturing  to 
such  a  remarkable  degree  that  in' 1 914  the  value  of  our  manufactured  products 
was  twenty-five  times  as  great  as  in  i860,  although  our  population  had  but  httle 
more  than  doubled  during  the  same  period.  The  restraint  upon  foreign  com- 
merce exercised  by  the  tariff  and  other  causes  is  seen  when  we  compare  our  im- 
ports with  our  exports,  the  former  having  been  but  four  fifths  of  the  latter 
dvuing  the  year  ending  June  30,  1914,  leaving  a  "balance  of  trade"  in  our  favor 
of  nearly  $500,000,000  in  a  total  commerce  of  more  than  four  billions. 


FOREIGN  COMMERCE  333 

competition  with  American  products,^  while  such  articles  as 
tea  and  coffee,  which  are  not  raised  in  the  United  States, 
have  come  in  duty  free. 

The  poUcy  of  a  protective  tariff  has  been  opposed  by  many  Tariff  for 
Americans,  who  beUeve  that  our  prosperity  would  have  been  revenue  only 
greater  if  we  had  made  more  use  of  a  tariff  for  revenue  only.^  • 
On  this  basis  we  should  have  much  keener  competition  with 
foreign  manufacturers. 

General  References 

Young,  The  New  American  Government  and  Its  Work,  1 19-140,  187- 
218,  442-445- 

Seager,  Introduction  to  Economics. 

Hamilton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems,  VII. 

Johnson,  American  Railway  Transportation. 

Meyer,  Governmental  Regulation  of  Railway  Rates,  Part  II. 

Ripley,  Railroads;  Rates  and  Regulations. 

Prentice,  Federal  Power  over  Carriers  and  Corporations. 

Fisk,  International  Commercial  Policies. 

Taussig,  Some  Aspects  of  the  Tarif  Question. 

Topics 

Railway  Consolidation:  Johnson,  American  Railway  Transporta- 
tion, 244-257 ;  Moody,  J.,  and  Turner,  G.  K.,  in  McClure's  Magazincj 
36  (1911),  334-352,  37  (i9ii)j  418-422  ;  Hill,  Highways  of  Progress,  114- 
139- 

^  The  Payne-Aldrich  tariff  (1909)  had  very  high  protective  rates  and  a  double 
tariff.  Ther°  wa^  a  maximum  and  a  minimum  rate  for  each  article  imported, 
the  minimum  ratos  torming  the  regular  tariff,  and  the  maximum  rates  being 
enforced  against  all  nations  that  did  not  gi^^e  us  as  favorable  terms  as  they  gave 
any  other  country.  Under  the  Dingley  tariff  of  1897,  it  W8=  Dossible  for  the 
government  to  make  reciprocity  treatie'^  bv  which  ;he  Prestdem  ana  ^ena-<-e  (witb 
the  consent  of  Congress)  might  lower  the  regular  duties  levied  on  impor  s  from 
a  country  which  ''educed  her  tariff  schedules  in  favor  of  our  exports.  In  addi- 
tion, if  any  country  paid  a  bounty  upon  articles  which  we  imported  from  her, 
the  Dingley  tariff  permitted  the  President  to  increase  our  duties  by  an  amount 
equal  to  the  bounty.  These  additional  retaUatory  duties  were  used  seldom, 
whereas  a  great  number  of  reciprocity  if  Katies  were  negotiated  by  the  Department 
of  State,  some  rf  which  were  accepted  by  the  Senate. 

^The  present  tariff,  the  Underwood  tariff  (1913),  is  not  a  tariff  for  revenue 
only,  but  its  protective  rates  are  lower  than  those  of  any  other  tariff  since  the 
Civil  War. 


334  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

Railway  Discrimination:  Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.), 
Materials  for  the  Sttidy  of  Elementary  Economics,  270-274;  Hamilton 
(ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems,  355-363;  Ripley,  Railroads;  Rates 
and  Regulations,  195-209. 

Interstate  Commerce  Act  of  1887 :  Haines,  Restrictive  Railway 
Legislation,  220-233,  243-292 ;  Johnson,  American  Railway  Transpor- 
tation, 367-407;  Meyer,  Government  Regulation  of  Railway  Rates,  319- 
439 ;  Ripley,  Railroads;  Rates  and  Regulation,  441-486. 

Our  Consular  Service:  Osborne,  J.  B.,  in  Forum,  39  (1907),  122- 
135;  Gauss,  The  American  Government,  273-308;  Van  Dyne,  Our  For- 
eign Service,  217-284. 

Studies 

1.  Good  roads  in  the  Northwest.  Tiffany,  W.  C,  in  Review  of  Re- 
views, 48  (1913),  184-192. 

2.  National  government  as  a  teacher  of  road  building.  Speed,  J.  G., 
in  Outlook,  84  (1906),  209-219. 

3.  Street  asphalt  pavements.  Pierce,  O.  T.,  in  American  City,  13 
(1915),  118-124. 

4.  The  bureau  of  corporations.  Reinsch,  Readings  on  American 
Federal  Government,  529-538. 

5.  Aspects  of  rate-making.  Il3.mi\ton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Prob- 
lems, 370-380. 

6.  Railway  rate  theories  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.).  Materials  for  Study  of  Elementary 
Economics,  286-289. 

7.  Safety  first  on  American  railways.  Wade,  H.  T.,  in  Review  of 
Reviews,  47  (1913),  327-338. 

8.  Report  of  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Reinsch,  Readings 
on  American  Federal  Government,  517-527. 

9.  Revaluing  national  railways.  Welliver,  J .  C,  in  Review  of  Re- 
views, 48  (loi^),  20S-213. 

10.  Trade  with  South  America.  Annals  of  American  Academy,  59 
(1915),  309-320. 

11.  Outside  American  possessions  and  trade.  Marvin,  G.,  in 
World's  Work,  27  (1914),  512-532. 

12.  Principles  and  effects  of  tariffs.  Taussig.  Some  Aspects  of  the 
Tariff  Question,  3-49. 

Questions 

I.  Name  the  successive  improvements  in  ways  of  communication  in 
America  since  1650.  Explain  clearly  the  advantages  possessed  by  each 
over  the  preceding  in  regard  to :  (i)  speed  in  transportation,  (2)  cost  of 
carrying  goods,  (3)  ease  of  reaching  a  desired  point,  and  (4)  commercial 
or  social  results  of  intercommunication. 


COMMERCE  335 

2.  In  this  locality,  how  are  streets  or  roads  opened?  who  authorizes 
the  improvement  ?  what  part  of  the  expense  is  paid  by  owners  of  ad- 
jacent property  ?  how  satisfactorily  is  the  work  done  and  how  good  is 
the  system  of  highways? 

3.  Answer  for  railways  all  questions  given  under  5,  Chapter  XV. 
Why  are  railways  and  the  public  much  more  dependent  on  each  other 
than  are  the  industrial  corporations  and  the  public? 

4.  What  methods  of  state  control  of  railways  are  in  use?  What 
kind  of  railway  commission  has  this  state?  Give  number  of  members, 
method  of  selection,  term,  and  powers. 

5.  Compare  the  original  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  with  that 
of  the  present  in  regard  to  membership,  carriers  controlled,  methods 
used,  and  powers  actually  exercised. 

6.  Why  do  we  need  more  American  sea-going  vessels?  Name  four 
duties  of  a  consul.     Compare  the  tariffs  of  recent  years. 

7.  Explain  these  terms :  turnpike,  eminent  domain,  subsidy,  pool, 
rebate,  common  carriei;,  reciprocity  tariff,  discrimmatory  rates,  consul 
general,  favorable  balance  of  trade. 


CHAPTER  XVII 


OTHER  BUSINESS  ACTIVITIES 


Extent  of 
the  connec- 
tion between 
modern  busi- 
ness and 
government. 


Summary  of 
other  busi- 
ness inter- 
ests. 


297.  Interrelation  of  Modern  Government  and  Business. 
—  Probably  no  national  laws  are  of  greater  interest  and 
importance  than  the  Sherman  Anti-trust  Law  and  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Laws,  yet  we  must  look  to  the  states 
rather  than  the  national  government  for  legislation  regard- 
ing business.  It  is  said  that  during  a  recent  period  of  five 
years  our  state  legislatures  enacted  more  than  fifty  thousand 
laws  which  deal  with  some  form  of  industry.  Certainly,  in 
the  face  of  these  statistics,  one  would  hardly  maintain  that 
at  least  in  America  modern  government  has  little  to  do 
with  business,  or  vice  versa,  that  modern  business  has  little 
to  do  with  government. 

No  action  of  government  influences  business  more  than  does 
the  system  of  money  adopted  by  a  national  government.  It 
makes  an  immense  difference  whether  the  government 
selects  the  most  satisfactory  money  standard,  whether  there 
is  a  sufficient  amount  of  money  in  circulation,  and  whether, 
under  proper  safeguard  for  the  public,  the  government  per- 
mits those  forms  of  credit  which  will  be  most  advantageous 
to  business.  Another  important  phase  of  the  government's 
economic  activities  is  the  post  office,  which  is  the  only  large 
business  conducted  by  the  national  government.^  Deserving 
of  attention  is  the  work  done  by  the  government  for  the 
protection  of  agriculture. 


Money  and  Banking 

Bimetallism.        298.   Money  Standards.  —  If  a  government  wishes  to  give 
the  people  both  gold  and  silver  coins,  it  follows  one  of  two 

*  On  the  business  activities  of  the  cities,  see  §§  177-184  on  public  utilities. 

336 


MONEY  AND   BANKING 


337 


policies,  (i)  It  allows  any  one  who  has  gold  or  silver  bullion 
to  bring  it  to  the  mint  and  have  it  made  into  coins.  This 
is  called  free  coinage  of  both  gold  and  silver,  and  the  money 
system  is  known  as  bimetallism.  Under  a  bimetallic  system 
both  metals  will  be  coined  only  in  case  the  gold  and  silver 
coins  of  the  same  denomination  are  of  the  same  real  value. 
For  example,  if  our  national  government  decides  that  the 
gold  dollar  shall  contain  23.22  grains  of  gold  and  the  silver 
dollar  2,7^  grains  of  silver,   although  the  23.22  grains  of 


The  Mint  at  Philadelphia. 


gold  are  worth  as  much  as  500  grains  of  silver  in  the  market, 
then  no  one  will  take  23.22  grains  of  gold  to  the  mint  and 
receive  only  one  gold  dollar  in  return.  He  will  trade  his 
gold  for  500  grains  of  silver  and  then  exchange  the  500 
grains  of  silver  at  the  mint  for  $1.35  in  government  silver 
coins. 

If  one  ounce  of  gold  is  worth  as  much  as  30  ounces  of  Market  ratio 
silver,  the  market  ratio  of  the  two  metals  is  said  to  be  30  to  ^"^  ^^^ 
I.    This  ratio  varies  constantly,  because  gold  and  silver,  like 
other  commodities  that  are  bought  and  sold,  change  in  value. 


338 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Mono- 
metallism. 


Government 
coinage  of  a 
second 


metal. 


Laws  of  1792 
and  1834. 


When  a  government  permits  free  coinage  of  two  metals,  it 
must  fix  the  amount  of  metal  of  each  in  coins  of  the  same  denomi- 
nation. There  must  be,  therefore,  a  legal  ratio  between  the 
two.  For  example,  if  the  silver  dollar  under  a  bimetallic 
standard  contains  16  times  as  much  pure  metal  as  the  gold 
dollar,  the  legal  ratio  is  16  to  i. 

(2)  The  second  method  which  a  government  may  adopt  is 
to  allow  only  one  metal  to  be  brought  to  the  mint  for  coinage 
to  an  unlimited  amount.  The  government  then  buys  as 
much  of  the  other  metal  as  it  desires  and  coins  it  into  money. 
If  there  is  free  coinage  of  gold  only,  and  the  government 
buys  silver  to  make  into  coins,  then  the  silver  in  a  silver 
dollar  must  be  of  less  value  than  the  gold  in  a  gold  dollar ; 
otherwise  the  silver  dollars  will  be  traded  for  gold  bullion, 
and  that  bullion  will  be  brought  to  the  mint  for  free  coinage. 
But  if  the  silver  in  the  silver  dollar  is  worth  less  than  100 
cents  in  gold,  let  us  say  78  cents,  then  the  credit  of  the  gov- 
ernment must  be  good  for  the  other  22  cents  if  the  gold  and 
silver  coins  are  to  circulate  side  by  side.  This  system  of 
free  or  unlimited  coinage  of  one  metal  only  is  known  as 
monometallism. 

299.  History  of  the  American  Coinage.  —  Fortunately  for 
us,  Congress,  even  under  the  Confederation,  adopted  a 
decimal  system  of  coinage,  the  Spanish  dollar  being  the 
"  monetary  unit."  In  1792,  on  the  recommendation  of 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  weight 
of  the  silver  dollar  was  fixed  at  371^^  grains  of  pure  silver  and 
of  the  gold  dollar  at  24!  grains  of  gold,  a  legal  ratio  of  15  to 
I,  with  sufficient  alloy  to  make  the  coins  hard  and  durable. 
Any  one  who  had  those  amounts  of  gold  or  silver  bullion 
was  allowed  to  take  them  to  the  mint  and  have  them 
coined  for  his  own  use.  Forty-two  years  later  a  legal 
ratio  of  16  to  I  was  adopted,  the  weight  of  the  gold  dollar 
being  reduced   to    23.22  grains  fine.^      After  this  change 


1  The  old,  heavier  gold  dollar  was  worth  more  in  the  form  of  bullion  than  it 
was  as  a  coin,  so  that  the  gold  dollars  had  gone  out  of  circulation  and  the  people 
did  all  of  their  business  with  silver. 


MONEY  AND   BANKING  339 

had  been  made  in  1834,  however,  people  found  that  the 
silver  dollars  were  now  worth  more  as  bullion  than  as 
coins,  so  that  those  who  had  silver  did  not  take  it  to  the 
mint,  but  took  only  gold,  and  silver  almost  disappeared 
from  circulation.^. 

In  1873,  Congress  decided  that  there  should  be  no  longer  Laws  of 
"  free  coinage  "  of  silver  dollars.  Afterward,  this  act  was  ^^^^'  g^^^' 
denounced  as  the  "  crime  of  1873."  Later,  however,  in  1878 
and  1890,  in  response  to  a  demand  for  silver  dollars.  Congress 
passed  laws  authorizing  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to 
buy  silver  bullion,  and  have  it  coined  into  dollars.  This 
was  a  very  different  matter,  of  course,  from  free  coinage  of 
silver,  for  we  now  had  practically  a  gold  monometallic 
standard,  because  gold  only  was  subject  to  free  coinage. 
The  silver  law  of  1890  was  repealed  in  1893  during  the  panic 
of  that  year,  and  in  ipoo  the  gold  dollar  was  made  the  money  Law  of  igoa 
unit  for  the  United  States.  Every  silver  dollar  in  circu- 
lation, the  silver  of  which  is  actually  worth  about  half  of 
the  gold  in  a  ''  gold  dollar,"  is  guaranteed  by  the  national 
government  to  be  equal  in  value  to  gold  money  of  the  same 
denominations. 

300.    Our   National   Banking   System.  —  In   addition   to  Forms  of 
the  gold  coins  which  any  one  can  have  struck  for  him  at  government 

"  -^  paper 

the  mints  by  taking  the  proper  amount  of  gold  bullion,  money, 
and  the  silver  coins  made  by  the  government  from  silver 
which  it  has  bought  outright,  we  have  in  use  several 
kinds  of  paper  money.  Some  of  these,  called  gold  and  stiver 
certificates,  are  paper  substitutes  for  the  gold  or  silver 
which  is  heavy  and  bulky  for  ordinary  use.  Another  form 
of  paper  money  which  is  being  retired  as  rapidly  as  possible 
consists  of  the  national  treasury  notes  or  greenbacks,  originally 
issued  during  the  Civil  War. 
Much  of  our  paper  money  at  present  consists  of  bank 

1  In  1854,  in  order  to  provide  business  men  with  small  change,  the  govern- 
ment reduced  the  amount  of  silver  in  the  50-cent  piece  and  smaller  coins.  As 
it  could  not  allow  free  coi)iage  of  these  lesser  coins,  it  bought  the  silver  and 
minted  the  coins. 


340 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Bank  notes 
issued  by  the 
national 
banks. 


notes  issued  by  banks  which  have  received  charters  from  the 
national  government.  Our  present  national  banking  sys- 
tem was  established  in  1863  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a 
new  market  for  bonds  which  the  government  was  obliged  to 
sell  in  order  to  finance  the  Civil  War.^ 

These  national  banks  are  allowed  to  issue  notes  equal  in 
value  to  United  States  bonds  which  they  have  bought  and 
left  with  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States.  Since  the  bonds 
are  excellent  security,  no  one  hesitates  to  accept  any  national 
bank  note  at  its  face  value.  These  notes  have,  therefore, 
stability,  a  quality  which  all  good  money  must  possess. 
Since  their  amount,  however,  is  limited  by  the  volume  of 
the  bonds  which  the  banks  have  bought  and  may  buy,  the 
currency  lacks  elasticity,  sl  quality  quite  as  necessary  as 
stability,  especially  in  the  autumn,  when  crops  are  being 
moved,  and  in  crises.  Under  the  new  Federal  Reserve  Act 
(19 1 3),  this  kind  of  national  bank  note  is  being  retired 
very  gradually,  and  after  1935  they  will  no  longer  be  in 
circulation. 

301.  The  Federal  Reserve  System.  —  The  national  bank- 
ing system,  as  it  existed  from  1863  to  1913,  was  highly  de- 
centralized, because  there  were  many  thousand  banks  in  no 
way  connected  with  one  another.  In  order  to  unify  our 
banking  system,  in  order  to  secure  a  bank  currency  which 
should  be  better  adapted  to  our  needs,  and  in  order  to 
enable  our  national  banks  to  perform  better  their  chief 
function,  that  is,  the  loaning  of  capital  to  persons  en- 
gaged in  business,  the  Federal  Reserve  Act  was  adopted 
in  1 9 13.  This  act  provides  for  a  single  Federal  Reserve 
Board  consisting  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the 
Controller  of  the  Currency,  and  five  other  members 
appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate  for  a  term  of 
ten  years  each.    This  board  supervises  the  federal  reser^^e 


^  There  were  in  circulation  at  that  time  a  great  many  state  bank  notes  which 
varied  greatly  in  value.  These  were  forced  to  retire  when  Congress  placed 
an  annual  tax  of  ten  per  cent  on  the  issues  of  state  banks.  Since  that  time  no 
state  bank  notes  have  been  in  circulation. 


MONEY  AND   BANKING 


341 


banks    and    the    administration    of    the    Federal    Reserve 
Act. 

At  present  the  United  States  is  divided  into  twelve  dis-  Ntimber, 
tricts  as  shown  in  the  accompanying  map.     In  each  of  these  JJ^^f ^'  ^^^, 
there  is  located  a  Federal  Reserve  Bank  which  is  really  an  the  Federal 
organization  made  up  of  all  the  national  banks  in  that  fed-  Reserve 
eral  reserve  district.^     These  Federal  Reserve  Banks  may  issue 


Banks. 


Map  Showing  Federal  Reserve  Districts. 

notes  in  large  quantities,^  but  the  notes  are  safeguarded  against 
depreciation.  They  do  not  do  business  with  the  public,  but 
are  limited  exclusively  to  dealings  with  member  banks  or 
possibly  with  other  Federal  Reserve  Banks.  Even  more  im- 
portant than  a  better  and  more  flexible  system  for  issuance 
of  bank  notes  is  the  opportunity  given  to  the  Federal  Reserve 


^  Each  of  the  member  banks,  as  they  are  called,  must  contribute  a  definite 
amount  toward  the  capital  of  the  district  Federal  Reserve  Bank. 

^  Each  Federal  Reserve  Bank  has  the  right  to  issue  notes  of  its  own,  the  notes 
having  as  security  an  amount  of  first  class  commercial  paper  equal  in  value  to 
the  reserve  notes  and  a  special  reserve  of  gold  held  in  the  Federal  Bank  which 
is  equal  to  forty  per  cent  of  its  outstanding  notes.  It  may  thus  increase  or  de- 
crease its  circulation  of  bank  notes  as  needs  arise  by  buying  and  holding  more 
first  class  promissory  notes  and  other  securities. 


342 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Land  loan 
banks. 


Changes  in 
the  value  of 
gold  and 
therefore  of 
money. 


Need  of  com- 
paring the 
wages  of 
labor  with 
prices  of 
commodities. 


Bank  to  increase  the  loans  ^  made  by  member  banks  to  business 
men} 

By  a  law  passed  in  191 6,  twelve  land  loan  banks  were 
created  under  a  single  Federal  Board.  These  banks  loan 
money  at  comparatively  low  rates  to  associations  of  farmers, 
the  principal  to  be  repaid  in  installments  over  a  long 
period. 

302.  Wages  and  Prices.  —  The  value  of  a  dollar  is  not 
fixed  like  the  length  of  a  foot  rule ;  it  is  simply  the  value  of 
23.22  grains  of  gold.  That  is,  it  is  the  amount  of  other  com- 
modities for  which  23.22  grains  of  gold  can  be  exchanged. 
We  realize  that  a  dollar  to-day  will  not  purchase  as  much  as 
it  would  in  1913,  or  nearly  as  much  as  it  purchased  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago.  Consequently  an  income  of  two  thousand 
dollars  will  not  go  as  far  now  as  it  did  twenty-five  years  ago. 
These  changes  in  the  value  of  money  have,  therefore,  an 
important  influence  on  the  standard  of  living,  especially  of 
those  whose  incomes  are  small. 

Wages  are  the  price  of  labor,  since  they  are  the  amount 
paid  for  labor ;  they  are,  moreover,  a  customary  price.  If  an 
employer  is  in  the  habit  of  paying  a  certain  wage  or  salary, 
it  is  probable  that  he  will  continue  to  pay  the  same  wage  or 
salary,  whether  a  dollar  will  purchase  more  or  less  than  it 

1  The  Federal  Reserve  Bank  helps  member  banks  very  largely  by  "buying," 
that  is,  rediscounting  first-class  two-name  paper  which  the  member  bank  has  in 
its  possession.  The  member  bank  is  then  able  to  make  new  loans  for  an  equal 
amount  to  its  customers. 

Under  the  old  banking  system  part  of  the  immense  reserves  of  the  larger 
banks  in  great  centers  were  used  from  day  to  day  in  helping  the  stock  exchange. 
Under  the  new  law  the  Federal  Reserve  Banks  as  well  as  the  larger  commercial 
banks  make  use  of  most  of  this  "surplus  reserve"  in  buying  foreign  bills  of  ex- 
change and  other  first  class  commercial  paper.  In  this  v/ay  they  perform  a  far 
more  valuable  service  to  business  than  they  could  under  the  old  system. 

^  As  is  well  known,  most  of  the  business  done  in  the  United  States  is  not 
transacted  with  cash.  When  a  business  man  pays  his  bills,  he  pays  not  in  cash 
but  by  a  check,  payable  by  the  bank  in  which  he  has  his  commercial  account. 
When  an  importer  or  wholesaler  sells  to  a  business  man  he  usually  takes  the 
business  man's  note  for  the  amount,  payable  in  sixty  or  ninety  days.  Pro- 
fessor Irving  Fisher  has  estimated  that  the  total  annual  value  of  the  transfers 
made  in  the  United  States  amounted  in  igii  to  four  hundred  and  twenty- two 
billions  of  dollars,  of  which  only  thirty-five  billions  were  cash  transactions,  the 
others  being  handled  through  credit. 


MONEY  AND   BANKING 


343 


did  before.  On  the  other  hand,  the  prices  of  wheat,  cotton, 
wool,  leather,  meat,  and  other  commodities  which  are  used 
for  food,  clothing,  or  shelter  will  change  more  or  less  auto- 
matically as  gold  increases  or  decreases  in  value.  If  the 
price  of  labor,  that  is,  wages,  rises  more  slowly  than  the 
price  of  food  and  clothing,  then  the  ordinary  laborer  will 


sf 


rfc 


till   K 


v'8 


'^et 


"'It 


ill 

h     e  h  » 


I  fVages 
Prices 


u 


p- 


IdGO  IbTO  1880  1890 

WAGES  AND  PRICES  1840-1913 
IN  GOLD 


have  a  lower  standard  of  living  than  he  had  before,  because, 
although  his  money  wages  may  he  higher,  his  real  wages,  that 
is  J  the  purchasing  power  of  his  wages,  are  lower. 

Prices  doubled  from  1913  to  1920,  and  increased  seventy   Changes 
per  cent  from  1916  to  1920.     The  wages  of  ordinary  workers  ^^^  ^^  ^^^ 
who  were  organized  increased  almost  as  much ;   but  salaried  monetary 
men  and  persons  with  fixed  incomes  have  suffered  severely  revolution, 
because  their  incomes  will  not  purchase  nearly  as  much  to-day 
as  they  did  ten  or  even  five  years  ago.     These  changes  show 


344 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Public  serv- 
ice work  of 
the  post 
office. 


Develop- 
ment of  the 
post  office. 


Older  work 
of  the  post 
office. 


how  unstable  has  been  our  money  standard,  based  exclusively 
on  the  price  of  gold.  The  importance  of  selecting  the  best 
possible  money  standard  is  shown  by  this  practical  problem. 

Miscellaneous  Activities 

303.  The  Post  Office.  —  The  post  office  is  unlike  an  or- 
dinary business  in  several  respects.  It  is  a  necessary  means 
of  intercommunication  in  which  all  customers  should  be 
served  equally  well,  without  fear  or  favor.  Uncle  Sam  has 
never  sought  to  make  money  out  of  the  post  office.  In  fact 
until  recent  years  an  annual  deficit  of  several  million  dollars 
was  customary.^ 

Even  in  colonial  times,  the  postal  system  was  under  the 
control  of  the  government,  but  the  rates  were  exorbitant  and 
the  methods  in  use  very  different  from  those  of  the  present. 
Only  letters  were  carried,  stamps  were  not  used,  and  postage 
was  not  paid  in  advance.  It  was  not  until  1845  that  we  be- 
gan the  use  of  adhesive  stamps.  Rates  have  been  lowered 
greatly  at  different  times.  Because  the  United  States  is  a 
member  of  the  International  Postal  Union  and  because  we 
have  special  arrangements  with  different  countries,  it  is 
now  possible  to  send  letters  with  an  ordinary  two-cent  stamp 
to  many  foreign  countries,  and  to  reach  the  remotest  countries 
of  the  globe  by  letter  for  five  cents. 

The  work  performed  by  the  post  office  includes  not  only 
the  collection  and  distribution  of  the  mails,^  but  the  transfer 
of  money  by  means  of  money  orders.^    Free  collections  and 

^  Post  offices  are  divided  into  four  classes,  according  to  the  amount  of  the 
business  they  transact.  Nearly  nine  thousand  postmasters  are  appointed 
by  the  President  and  Senate  for  the  first  three  classes.  The  other  postmasters, 
whose  salaries  are  less  than  $1000  each,  are  under  the  Civil  Service  Commission 
(§  114).  Most  of  the  employees,  including  postal  clerks,  railway  mail  clerks, 
and  mail  carriers,  also  belong  to  the  classified  service,  and  are  continually  re- 
examined by  inspectors  to  insure  efficiency. 

2  Ordinary  mail  is  divided  into  four  classes.  Letters  are  first-class  matter ; 
periodicals,  second  class;  photographs  and  light  pamphlets,  third  class;  and 
merchandise,  including  books,  fourth  class.  The  rates  are  highest  upon  first 
class,  and  lowest  for  second. 

3  Both  domestic  and  international  money  orders  are  issued  at  the  post  offices 
at  a  nominal  charge,  the  rate  depending  on  the  amount  of  the  order.    Valuable 


POST  OFFICE 


345 


deliveries  have  been  established  in  cities,  large  villages,  and 
in  many  rural  districts.  The  number  of  daily  deliveries 
depends  upon  the  density  of  population  and  the  distance 
from  the  post  office.  This  service  is  distinctly  inferior  to 
that  of  many  foreign  countries,  where  the  mails  are  some- 
what cheaper  and  deliveries  are  much  more  prompt.    This 


Rapid  Transportation  of  Letters  by  Pneumatic  Tube  System. 


inferiority  of  our  service  is  due  partially  to  the  greater  dis- 
tances in  America,  and  even  more  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
United  States  the  letter  service  yields  a  large  surplus  revenue 
which  is  used  to  make  good  the  deficit  from  other  branches  of 
the  business. 

304.   Newer    Postal    Work.  —  Within    recent   years    the  Extension  of 
United  States  has  adopted  some  of  the  new  reforms  of  serv-  P      ^^^' 
ice    which    have    proved    successful   in   foreign   countries, 
such  as  a  parcels  post  and  postal  savings  banks.     In  its 

letters  and  packages  can  be  registered  at  post  offices  or  by  mail  carriers  at  the 
home  by  paying  ten  cents  in  addition  to  postage. 


346 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Observa- 
tions on  the 
postal  serv- 
ice. 


Important 
agencies  used 
in  agricul- 
tural devel- 
opment. 


rural  free  delivery  the  post  ofl&ce  in  the  United  States  has 
probably  gone  farther  than  other  countries.  Farmers  may 
purchase  goods  from  the  nearest  country  store,  or  from  a 
more  distant  mail  order  house,  and  have  the  goods  delivered 
C.O.D.  by  parcels  post}  They  may  also  send  their  butter, 
eggs,  and  vegetables  to  market,  having  the  buyer  pay  the 
postman.  Many  post  offices  are  used  as  postal  savings  hanks. 
People  are  allowed  to  deposit  their  savings  in  small  amounts 
in  localities  which  do  not  possess  savings  banks  of  their  own.^ 
The  system  has  met  with  considerable  favor  in  this  country, 
although  it  has  not  yet  developed  as  fully  as  the  postal  sav- 
ings banks  of  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  and  some  other 
foreign  countries. 

Although  our  post  office  department  might  undoubtedly  be 
managed  more  economically  than  it  is,  although  it  has  not 
adopted  some  improvements  used  in  foreign  countries, 
although  it  does  not  perform  all  the  public  services  of  which 
it  is  capable,  nevertheless,  the  post  office  is  a  very  good 
example  of  government  management.  Defects  which  were 
conspicuous  a  few  years  ago  have  been  remedied ;  e.g.  post- 
masters are  no  longer  appointed  under  the  spoils  system  and 
are  presumably  well  fitted  for  their  positions.  The  remark- 
able accuracy  and  skill  of  many  post  office  employees,  par- 
ticularly railway  mail  clerks,  are  characteristics  which  de- 
serve the  highest  commendation.  There  are  still  many 
inequalities  and  defects  to  be  remedied,  but  the  day  of 
wholesale  condemnation  of  post  office  methods  is  past. 

305.  Government  and  Agricultural  Development.  — 
Through  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  Washington  a 
great  deal  of  help  is  being  given  to  the  farmers  of  the  nation. 
Cooperating  with  bureaus  of  this  department  are  the  well- 


1  The  United  States  is  divided  into  zones,  and  rates  vary  with  weight  and 
distance.  Decided  preference  is  given  to  patrons  who  wish  to  send  large  pack- 
ages short  distances. 

2  Deposits  are  received  in  amounts  as  small  as  one  dollar,  but  no  depositor 
may  deposit  more  than  one  hundred  dollars  in  one  month,  nor  may  he  have  a 
total  deposit  of  more  than  five  hundred.  The  government  pays  two  per  cent 
interest  on  deposits. 


OTHER  BUSINESS  ACTIVITIES 


347 


equipped  State  Agricultural  Colleges,  to  each  of  which  Con- 
gress has  allotted  public  lands  and  is  granting  annually  a 
sum  of  $50,000.  The  instruction  given  to  the  regular  stu- 
dents in  these  schools  is  supplemented  by  short  courses 
offered  to  farmers  during  the  Christmas  vacation,  by  demon- 
stration trains  which  bring  to  agriculturists  the  results  of 
investigation  that  may  prove  of  value  in  that  locality,  by 
lectures  and  object  lessons  at  farmers'  institutes,  and  by  the 


Oregon  Agricultural  College. 


tens  of  thousands  of  demonstration  farms  which  are  being 
conducted  in  accordance  with  advice  from  Washington  or 
the  nearest  agricultural  college.  Within  recent  years  the 
national  government  has  tried  to  reach  the  farmers  more 
directly  by  extension  work.^  This  practical  work  consists, 
to  a  large  extent,  in  the  application  of  the  discoveries  made 
by  the  experts  and  students  in  the  experiment  stations,  of 
which  one  or  more  are  to  be  found  in  every  state .^ 

Our  government  has  made  an  extensive  survey  of  the 
soils  of  the  United  States  to  discover  their  agricultural  pos- 
sibilities. By  draining,  it  has  reclaimed  swamp  lands. 
Through  a  study  of  the  soil  and  means  to  utilize  all  possible 

1  Smith-Lever  Act  (1914). 

2  Congress  appropriates  $30,000  annually  for  each  of  these  exceedingly  valu- 
able laboratories  which  are  solving  the  numerous  problems  of  soil,  plant  develop- 
ment, diseases  of  animals  or  plants,  and  of  other  agricultural  questions,  for  the 
solution  of  which  they  have  especial  advantages. 


investiga- 
tion and  uses 
of  soils. 


348 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Adaptation 
of  crop  to 
soil. 


Breeding 
better  plants. 


moisture,  the  government  experts  and  the  farmers  have  im- 
proved the  process  of  dry  farming.  AlkaH  lands,  on  which 
alkali  destroys  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  have  been  freed  from 
injurious  salts  by  the  simple  process  of  flooding  the  lands. 

Government  experts  have  tried  to  teach  the  farmers  better 
methods  of  cultivation ;  they  have  explained  wiser  systems 
for  the  rotation  of  suitable  crops  by  which  farmers  can  re- 
plenish the  supply  of  necessary  soil  elements  which  have  been 
diminished  or  exhausted.  Ma,ny  "  worn  out  "  lands  have 
been  found  valuable  for  crops  other  than  those  to  which 
they  have  been  devoted, 

306.  Development  and  Improvement  of  Our  Food  Supply. 
—  By  the  selection  of  seeds  and  the  better  adaptation  of 
crops  to  soil  and  of  plants  to  climate,  the  farmers  of  this 
country  are  learning  to  get  better  results.  The  breeding  by 
government  experts  of  better  varieties  of  corn,  wheat,  bar- 
ley, oats,  and  other  staple  cereals  will  mean  a  gain  of  several 


Corn  Experimental  Work. 
(Under  Direction  of  University  of  Illinois.) 


billion  dollars,  without  additional  cost  of  cultivation,  as  the 
government  helps  the  farmers  to  select  the  types  which  are 
best  suited  to  their  needs.  This  notable  work  includes  the 
development  of  a  cotton  which  resists  more  easily  the  rav- 
ages of  the  destructive  boll  weevil,  the  doubling  of  the 
sugar-producing  ability  of  the  sugar  beet,  as  well  as  types 


OTHER  BUSINESS  ACTIVITIES  349 

of  cereals  and  vegetables  which  require  less  moisture  or  with- 
stand greater  cold  than  the  ordinary  varieties. 

Not  the  least  successful  of  the  tasks  undertaken  by  our  Importation 
government  is  the  importation  0}  new  plants  or  new  varieties.  ^\  valuable 
From  the  interior  of  China  we  are  obtaining  fruits  or  grains  ^  '^  ^' 
that  can  be  grown  on  the  arid  lands  of  the  great  plains. 
Siberia  has  yielded  plants  which  show   greater  resistance 
to  cold  than  any  which  we  have  in  America.     Some  va- 
rieties of  imported  alfalfa  will  grow  where  ours  will  not,  or 
will  produce  a  larger  number  of  crops  yearly.     Excellent 
examples  of  the  present  economic  importance  of  an  im- 
ported fruit  is  the  Washington  navel  orange  brought  from 
Brazil;    of  an  imported  cereal,  is  durum  wheat,  which  is 
grown  mostly  in  the  land  of  little  rain. 

The  work  of  the  government  is  preventive  as  well  as  Protection  of 
expansive.  All  imported  trees,  shrubs,  and  animals  are  animals  and 
examined  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  any  dangerous  dis- 
eases or  insects.  There  are  continually  being  discovered 
and  explained  new  means  for  the  destruction  of  insects  and 
diseases  which  destroy  plants  such  as  cotton,  oranges,  and 
wheat.  Some  of  the  worst  diseases  have  been  eradicated 
already  by  vigorous  treatment.  It  was  estimated  that  in  a 
single  instance  an  expenditure  of  $220,000  saved  $5,000,000 
by  preventing  the  spread  of  a  virulent  form  of  cattle 
disease. 

307.   Protection  against  Storms  and  Floods.  —  The  serv-  Organization 
ices   of  the  Weather    Bureau  in  forecasting    storms    and  and  methods 

1  ^  •  4.  ^    of  the 

preventing  unnecessary  loss  to  growing  crops  or  to  coast  weather 
trade  is  so  well  known  as  to  require  little  comment.  At  Bureau, 
about  two  hundred  stations  regular  observers  are  located 
who  report  twice  daily  to  some  central  office  the  meteoro- 
logical conditions  in  their  vicinities.  At  these  central  or  dis- 
trict offices  men  are  constantly  employed  comparing  the 
reports  and  sending  out  by  wire  general  and  local  forecasts, 
which  are  distributed  locally  by  mail  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Reports  from  these  district  stations  are  sent  to  the  main 
office  at  Washington,  where  they  are  in  turn  compared  by 


350 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Value  of  its 
work. 


experts,  who  at  once  send  out  forecasts  to  the  different  sta- 
tions. Reports  on  the  conditions  of  climate  and  crops  are 
received  from  about  one  hundred  sixty  thousand  persons, 
and  accurate  national  and  state  crop  bulletins  are  issued 
at  frequent  intervals. 

Most  of  us  appreciate  the  importance  of  the  weather 
forecasts  made  by  the  Weather  Bureau,  though  we  frequently 
notice  only  the  failure  to  indicate  the  exact  changes  of  tem- 
perature for  our  locality.  We  do  not  always  realize  the  im- 
mense saving  to  those  engaged  in  agriculture  due  to  v/arnings 
of  floods,  droughts,  or  storms,  nor  do  we  understand  the 
value,  to  those  who  are  shipping  merchandise  from  port  to 
port  on  the  lakes  or  seacoast,  of  notification  that  a  storm  is 
brewing. 


Reservations 
and  Indian 
agents. 


Aid  given  to 
the  Indians. 


308.  Indian  Affairs.  —  The  obligations  of  our  people  to 
the  red  men,  whose  territory  has  been  restricted  by  each  suc- 
ceeding wave  of  Western  advance,  have  never  received  the 
attention  which  they  deserve.  Until  1871,  the  relations 
with  Indian  tribes  were  arranged  in  treaties  which  were 
broken  frequently.  The  tribal  Indians  have  since  been 
considered  wards  of  the  nation,  and  have  had  certain  rights 
to  lands  on  reservations.  At  the  present  time  Indian  affairs 
are  intrusted  to  a  Commissioner,  who  looks  after  the  lands, 
schools,  and  moneys  of  all  tribes  except  those  that  are  free 
to  care  for  their  own  welfare.  The  government  appoints 
Indian  agents  who  oversee  the  distribution  of  funds  and 
the  allotment  of  lands,  great  and  small.  The  success  of  the 
present  system  depends  to  a  very  great  degree  upon  the  char- 
acter and  judgment  of  those  agents,  many  of  whom  are 
conscientious,  capable  men,  although  they  are  often  ap- 
pointed for  other  reasons  than  their  qualifications. 

A  large  amount  of  money  is  expended  for  Indian  day 
schools  and  boarding  schools;  most  of  this  money,  how- 
ever, is  the  income  from  lands  which  are  being  held  in 
trust  by  the  government  for  the  Indians.  It  may  be  said 
that  the  problems  of  education  and  civilization  are  being 


OTHER  BUSINESS  ACTIVITIES  351 

dealt  with  in  an  honest  spirit  and  that  an  attempt  is  being 
made  to  solve  them  by  making  the  Indian  a  citizen/  by  giving 
him  land  of  his  own,^  and  by  training  him  in  some  suitable 
line  of  work. 

General  References 

Ashley,  The  American  Federal  State,  484-496. 

Bullock,  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Economics,  224-314. 

White,  Money  and  Banking. 

Seligman,  Principles  of  Economics,  448-586. 

Hamilton  (ed.),  Current  Economic  Problems,  V. 

Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.),  Materials  for  tlie  Study  of  Elemen* 
tary  Economics,  443-546. 

Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours,  233-250,  268-291. 

Fairlie,  National  Administration  of  the  United  States,  pp.  176-187, 197- 
214,  220-229. 

Topics 

Federal  Reserve  Banking  System  :  American  Year  Book  (1913), 
38-53;  Willis,  H.  B.,  in  Amercian  Economic  Review,  4  (1914),  1-24; 
Agger,  E.  E.,  in  Political  Science  Quarterly,  29  (1914),  256-281 ;  Sprague, 
O.  M.,  in  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  28  (1914),  213-254.  Hepburn 
History  of  Currency  in  the  United  States,  411-418,  511-544. 

Finding  New  Plants  for  the  Farmer  :  Outing,  53  (1908),  69-76 ; 
Du  Puy,  Uncle  Sam's  Modern  Miracles,  155-168, 

Studies 

1.  Monetary  history  of  United  States.  Bullock,  Introduction  to 
the  Study  of  Economics,  294-313. 

2.  American  and  foreign  banking  systems.  Seligman,  Principles  of 
Economics,  524-550. 

3.  The  compensated  dollar.  Marshall,  Wright,  and  Field  (eds.), 
Materials  for  Study  of  Elementary  Economics,  474-483. 

4.  Use  of  cash  and  credit.  Fisher,  I.,  in  North  American  Review,  196 
(1912),  740-758. 

5.  Agricultural  credit.     Hferrick,  Rural  Credits,  3-10,  209-244. 

6.  Improvement  of  commerce  on  upper  Mississippi.  Tiffany,  W.  C, 
in  Review  of  Reviews,  47  (1913) ,  1 79-185. 

^  Under  the  Dawes  Act  (1887)  citizenship  was  granted  outright  to  the  Indians, 
but  full  title  to  the  lands  was  not  acquired  for  twenty-five  years. 

2  The  Burke  Act  (1906)  provides  that  when  an  Indian  is  capable  of  cultivat- 
ing a  farm  of  his  own  and  exercising  the  rights  of  a  full-fledged  American  citizen, 
he  shall  be  allowed  all  rights  of  citizenship  and  shall  become  absolute  owner  of 
his  land. 


352  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

7.  Uncle  Sam,  expressman.  Middleton,  J.,  in  World's  Work,  28 
(1914),  160-174. 

8.  Postal  savings  banks.  Hitchcock,  F.  H.,  in  Independent,  72 
(1912),  136-139. 

9.  Bureau  of  animal  industry.  Carter,  C,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  51 
(1915),  330-333- 

10.  Illinois  agricultural  experiment  work.     Review  of  Reviews,  47 
(1913),  302-308. 

11.  War  on  agricultural  pests.     Seymour,  E.  L.  D.,  in  World's  Work, 
28  (1914),  93-98. 

12.  Revealing    weather    secrets.     Du    Puy,    Uncle    Sam's    Modern 
Miracles,  28-41. 

13.  Recompensing    the    Indian.    Du    Puy,    Uncle    Sam's    Modern 
Miracles,  42-55. 

14.  The  Indian  problem  and  the  Dawes  Act.    Leupp,  The  Indian 
and  His  Problem,  23-41. 

15.  The  working  of  the  Burke  Act.    Leupp,  The  Indian  and  His 
Problem,  61-78. 

16.  The  Indian  Service.    Leupp,  The  Indian  and  His  Problem,  96- 
114. 

Questions 

1.  Explain  these  terms:  free  coinage,  bimetallism,  market  ratio, 
legal  ratio,  silver  certificate,  bank  note,  reserve,  credit. 

2.  Explain  these  monetary  laws :   1792,1834,1878,1900. 

3.  What  is  a  bank?  Do  banks  do  anything  in  addition  to  issuing 
paper  money?  What  were  two  defects  of  the  old  national  banking 
system?  What  has  the  federal  reserve  system  <ione  to  remedy  these 
defects? 

4.  What  rates  are  charged  for  each  class  of  mail  matter?  What 
would  it  cost  to  send  a  one-ounce  letter  to  Montreal?  to  the  city  of 
Mexico?  to  Paris?  to  London?  What  would  it  cost  to  send  a  five- 
ounce  parcel  to  London?     to  Berlin?     (Newspaper  Almanacs.) 

5.  Under  what  class  does  each  of  the  following  come :  a  photograph? 
handkerchief?  manuscript  of  a  poem?  books  in  series  published 
monthly?  hectograph  circulars?  package  of  seeds?  (Newspaper 
Almanacs.) 

6.  What  have  the  parcels  post  and  rural  free  delivery  done  for  the 
farmer?  for  the  storekeeper  in  a  small  town? 

7.  Show  that  our  soil  is  our  greatest  natural  asset.  Explain  the  im- 
portance of  a  study  of  soils ;  of  plant  development  in  agricultural  experi- 
ment stations;  and  of  importation  of  new  plants. 


(The  different  scales  that  are  used  should 


Ifo-Area  73  Sq.mi. 


PJLCJFIC 


6AM0AN  ISLANDS  1899 

■     (Ainerican  PogMstons)  ^wtfromO 


O  C  E  A  H      ^ 

MANa 


iijo'         Jijs-v^  i!|6*        i:r 

_NI1HAU1    ^n^^^^^onoll  lu       Oc>, 

1  HAWAIIAN  .r.^M^pKAl   "i: 


I  RAMI  IVf^^UlH^n  111  u 

s  HAWAIIAN  ,r.^J!13-0'<*" 

I    .lSLAM)S,;r*'   •^*^*' 


1S98        KAHOOLAWEL_ 

e»,  6,740  S<j.  mi^  f^ 

0  SO  lUO    ZOO    158'W.«l  UroW  Gr«» 


lAwXll 
OrMBwich 


WMt  from  Greenwich  66°  Dan.West  IndiesflQlT) 
(Area  138  Sq.ml.; 

OviEOUES 


WEST    INDIES  sCALECFMiES 

(American  Pog»e««lpng)      p  lo  20  30  40 


be  noted  with  particular  care.) 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

TERRITORIES  AND   PUBLIC  LANDS 

Government  of  Territories 

309.  The  National  Government  and  National  Territories.  Territorial 
—  Although  nothing  is  said  in  the  written  Constitution  about  Q^^^^ess* 
the  acquisition  of  territory  by  the  United  States,  we  may 
distinguish  four  different  territorial  powers  of  Congress: 
(i)  the  right  to  acquire  territory;^  (2)  the  right  to  govern 
it ;  (3)  the  right  to  admit  territories  as  states ;  and  (4)  the 
right  to  sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of  any  lands,  the  title  to 
which  is  vested  in  the  United  States.  It  will  be  noticed 
that  the  first  three  of  these  are  distinctively  governmental ; 
that  is,  they  are  not  functions  which  may  be  exercised  by 
individuals  or  private  corporations,  but  the  last  is  similar 
to  private  ownership. 

^  To  its  original  territory  the  United  States  has  made  additions  as  follows : 


Country 

Territory  "Acqutrf,t>" 

Year 

FROM  WHICH 

Acquired 

Method  of  AcQuismoN 

"Louisiana" 

1803 

France 

Purchase 

"Florida" 

1819 

Spain 

Purchase 

Texas 

184s 

Annexation 

"Oregon" 

1846 

Boundary  fixed  by  treaty 

First  Mexican  Cession 

1848 

Mexico 

Conquest  and  treaty 

Gadsden  Purchase 

1853 

Mexico 

Purchase 

Alaska 

1867 

Russia 

Purchase 

Hawaii 

1898 

Annexation 

Philippines,      Guam,     and 

Porto  Rico 

1899 

Spain 

Conquest  and  treaty 

Tutuila  Island 

1899 

Treaty  arrangement 

Danish  West  Indies 

1917 

Denmark 

Purchase 

353 


354 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Proviaonal 
government 
of  territories. 


What  are  the 
constitutional 
elements  of 
congressional 
control  ? 


The  "insular 
cases." 


The  Philip- 
pines under 
American 
rule. 


From  the  beginning  new  lands  were  governed  absolutely 
by  the  national  government  before  they  were  organized  into 
territories  (§312).  According  to  the  famous  ordinance  of 
1787,  which  provided  a  government  for  the  territory  north- 
west of  the  Ohio  river,  at  first  all  territorial  officials  were 
selected  by  the  national  government  and  all  territorial  laws 
were  made  by  Congress. 

310.  Congressional  Control  of  Colonies.  —  For  several 
reasons  it  did  not  become  necessary  until  recent  years  to 
define  clearly  the  powers  of  Congress  over  national  terri- 
tories. Before  1898  all  national  territory  was  contiguous 
to  the  older  states,  was  being  settled  by  people  of  the  Ameri- 
can race,  and  was  being  prepared  for  statehood.  As  the 
territories  acquired  after  the  Spanish-American  War  were 
inhabited  by  people  alien  in  race  and  political  experience 
to  the  citizens  of  this  country,  the  questions  arose  at  once: 
were  these  dependencies  part  of  the  United  States,  or  did 
they  simply  belong  to  the  United  States?  Did  the  special 
limitations  placed  upon  Congress  in  the  Constitution  apply 
to  this  territory,  e.g.  must  duties  be  uniform  throughout  the 
United  States  and  its  colonies,  or  might  Congress  pass  a 
tariff  act  for  any  dependency  different  from  that  applying 
to  the  United  States  proper?  Must  Congress  permit  right 
of  trial  by  jury  and  complete  freedom  of  speech  under 
any  and  all  circumstances  ? 

In  the  "  insular  cases  "  the  Supreme  Court  recognized  the 
right  of  Congress  to  decide  when  the  Constitution  and  its 
amendments  shall  apply  to  territory  acquired  by  the  United 
States,  giving  Congress  absolute  control  of  new  territory  until 
Congress  extends  constitutional  rights  and  privileges  to  the 
inhabitants  of  the  new  lands. 

311.  Government  of  the  Philippines  and  Porto  Rico.  — 
After  a  brief  period  of  military  government,  the  Philippine 
Islands  were  permitted  to  have  a  civil  rule  under  the  law  of 
1902.  In  19 1 6  a  new  act  gave  the  Islands  a  much  more 
liberal  government.  The  governor-general  and  higher  judges 
are  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate,  but  the  Filipinos 


TERRITORIES  ,  355 

elect  twenty-two  of  the  twenty-four  members  and  eighty-one 
of  the  ninety  members  of  the  Assembly,  which  together  make 
up  the  legislature.  In  addition  there  are  provincial  and  mu- 
nicipal governments  in  which  the  Filipinos  have  considerable 
share.  The  American  rule  has  done  much  for  education,  for 
the  development  of  means  of  transportation,  and  for  improved 
sanitation. 

Porto  Rico  has  a  more  liberal  government  than  that  of  the  Government 
Philippines,  since  suffrage  in  Porto  Rico  is  practically  univer-  of,  Porto 
sal.  Only  the  governor  and  the  judges  of  the  highest  courts 
are  selected  by  the  President  and  Senate.  The  people  elect 
members  of  both  houses  of  the  territorial  legislature  and  have 
control  of  their  local  governments  under  the  general  laws. 
Since  191 7  the  Porto  Ricans  have  been  American  citizens. 

312.    Government  of   Organized  Territories.  —  In  times  Disappear- 
past  we  have  usually  had  a  large  number  of  completely  ^"^^  ?f  ^^^ 
organized  territories,  but  since   191 2   all  land  within  the  territory. 
continental  United  States  has  been  in  the  form  of  states,  of 
which  there  are  now  forty-eight.     Hawaii  is  organized  in 
practically  the  same  form  as  the  old  territories.^ 

In  one  sense  every  organized  territory  is  entirely  under  the  Degree  of 
control  of  Congress,  for  that  body  has  decided  the  extent  of  ^^^^f 
its  boundaries,  the  form  of  its  government,  the  share  which 
the  people  may  take  in  that  government,  and  retains  a  veto 
on  all  laws  passed  by  the  territorial  legislature.  In  other 
words,  the  territory  depends  upon  Congress  for  its  very 
existence,  and  derives  from  Congress  its  fundamental  law. 
But  a  territory  has  customarily  been  treated  as  a  rudimen- 
tary state,  subject  to  national  supervision,  although  given 
the  right  to  direct  its  own  affairs  as  far  as  possible,  in  order 

1  In  the  Constitution,  power  is  given  Congress  "  to  exercise  exclusive  legis- 
lation in  all  cases  whatsoever  over  such  district  (not  exceeding  ten  miles  square) 
as  may,  by  cession  of  particular  states,  and  the  acceptance  of  Congress,  become 
the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States."  A  law  passed  in  1790  ar- 
ranged for  the  location  of  the  district  upon  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  the  land 
being  ceded  to  the  United  States  by  Maryland  and  Virginia,  although  the  part 
upon  the  south  bank  was  receded  to  Virginia  in  1846.  The  district  is  now  gov- 
erned by  three  commissioners  appointed  by  Congress,  with  power  to  select 
minor  oflBcials,  and  supervise  the  administration  of  all  local  affairs. 


356 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Government 
of  an  organ- 
ized terri- 
tory. 


Preparation 
of  territories 
for  state- 
hood. 

Danger  and 
problems  in 
state  admis- 
sion. 


that  the  habit  of  self-government  shall  have  become  fixed 
before  it  becomes  a  member  of  the  Union. 

A  territorial  legislature  is  composed  of  two  houses  and 
holds  biennial  sessions.  It  may  make  laws  on  all  subjects 
not  forbidden  by  Congress,  but  any  law  passed  by  it  may  be 
vetoed  by  either  the  governor  or  by  Congress.  The  princi- 
pal executive  officials  are  the  governor  and  the  secretary, 
each  of  whom  is  selected  by  the  President  with  the  consent 
of  the  Senate  for  a  term  of  four  years.  The  highest  terri- 
torial court,  consisting  of  three  judges,  is  also  appointed 
by  the  President  and  Senate.  All  local,  executive,  and 
judicial  officials  are  elected  by  the  regular  voters  of  the 
territory. 

313.  The  Admission  of  New  States.  —  No  organized 
territory  has  believed  its  territorial  government  to  be  other 
than  provisional,  the  chrysalis  form  of  its  existence.^ 

In  a  federal  system  of  government  in  which  every  state 
is  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  privileges  as  each  of  the 
others,  the  principles  governing  the  admission  of  new  states 
is  of  the  first  importance.  No  circumstances  can  justify 
their  admission  in  order  to  give  help  to  the  party  in  power 
in  a  coming  election,  nor  is  the  exclusion  of  a  territory  for 
political  reasons  justifiable.  The  experience  of  several 
states  has  proved  the  undesirability  of  uniting  within  the 
boundaries  of  a  single  state  radically  dissimilar  sections, 
lor  example,  in  some  of  the  eastern  states  there  has  been 
constant  strife  between  the  commercial  people  of  the  sea 
border,  the  rich  farmers  of  the  plains,  and  the  hardy  moun- 
taineers. Where  these  interests  are  distinct  and  fairly  per- 
manent, much  dissatisfaction  would  have  been  avoided  by 
a  different  arrangement  of  state  boundaries. 


^  According  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  "No  new  State  shall  be 
formed  or  erected  within  the  jurisdiction  of  any  other  State,  nor  [may]  any 
State  be  formed  by  the  junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  parts  of  States,  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  legislatures  of  the  States  concerned  as  well  as  of  the 
Congress." 


PUBLIC  LANDS  357 


Our  Policy  Regarding  Agricultural  Lands 

314.  Public  Land  Policy  in  the  Pasi,  —  The  national  Great  extent 
government  became  the  owner  of  extensive  public  lands  of  our  former 
when  the  states  ceded  their  claims  to  the  northwest  terri- 
tory and  when  new  acquisitions  of  territory  were  made 
farther  west  and  in  Alaska.  Excldsive  of  Alaskan  lands 
this  gave  us  a  public  domain  ^  estimated  at  about  two  and 
one  quarter  million  square  miles,  an  area  greater  than  that 
of  the  present  continental  United  Spates  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi River. 

At  first  these  lands  were  sold  in  large  blocks,  usually  to  Early  policy 
land  companies.    After  1800  the  law  permitted  the  sale  of  JJ^^^'^^J^ 
six  hundred  and  forty  acres,  a  section  or  square  mile,  to  lands, 
any  person  at  a  price  of  two  dollars  an  acre  payable  in  install- 
ments.   Later    the    national    government    authorized    the 
sale  of  blocks  as  small  as  eighty  acres,  half  of  a  quarter 
section,  at  a  cash  price  of  not  less  than  one  dollar  and  a 
quarter  an  acre.     Still  later  in  1841   a  general  preemption 
act  was  passed.    This  permitted  settlers,  heads  of  families 
who  were  citizens  or  prospective  citizens,  to  occupy  eighty 
or  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  public  lands  before  the 
lands  were  offered  for  sale  and  gave  these  actual  settlers 
first  choice  of  the  new  lands  at  one  dollar  and  a  quarter 
an  acre. 

Not  only  has  the  national  government  been  exceedingly  Land  grants 
liberal  to  settlers  and  others  to  whom  lands  have  been  sold  for  schools  or 
or  distributed,  but  it  has  made  large  grants  of  land  to  be 
sold  and  the  proceeds  used  for  school  purposes  and  pubhc 
improvements.     Since  1848  two  sections  ^  in  each  township  ^ 

1  This  land  included  almost  all  of  the  Mississippi  basin,  with  its  rich  agri- 
cultural lands  and  large  coal  fields;  the  Cordilleran  range  and  plateau,  with 
valuable  deposits  of  minerals ;  and  desirable  lands  on  the  Pacific  slope,  including 
more  than  three  hundred  milUon  acres  of  mineral,  forest,  and  other  lands  in 
Alaska. 

^  Before  1848  one  section  only  was  granted. 

*  A  township  is  an  area  six  miles  square,  divided  into  36  square  blocks  called 
sections.    In  surveying  public  lands,  two  lines  were  selected,  a  hose  line  and  a 


to  railways. 


35S 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


have  been  granted  for  public  schools,  other  lands  have  been 
set  aside  for  state  universities  and  agricultural  schools. 
Lands  have  been  transferred  to  the  states  for  the  construc- 
tion of  highways,  notably  the  national  road  from  Cumber- 
land, Maryland,  most  of  the  way  to  the  Mississippi  River. 
About  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  important  grants  were 
made  to  many  western  states  for  railways  within  their 
borders.  To  the  Union  Pacific  corporation  and  to  other 
transcontinental  lines  similar  grants  of  alternate  sections  for 
about  ten  miles  on  each  side  of  the  railway  were  made 
directly.  It  is  estimated  that  in  the  case  of  at  least  one 
transcontinental  railway  the  real  value  of  the  land  subsidy 
was  much  greater  than  the  cost  of  the  entire  railway 
system. 

315.  Agricultural  and  Grazing  Lands.  —  Most  of  the 
West  was  settled  under  the  preemption  law,  which  was  in 
force  until  1891,  or  by  the  Homestead  Act,  first  passed  in 
1862  and  slightly  modified  later.  This  law  permits  any 
citizen  or  person  who  intends  to  become  a  citizen  to  acquire 
title  to  a  quarter  section,  160  acres,  of  ordinary  agricultural 
land  by  living  on  it  and  cultivating  it  for  a  period  of 
five  years.  Veterans  are  allowed  to  deduct  the  time  of 
actual  military  service  after  a  year's  residence  on  the 
homestead. 

By  a  law  enacted  in  1909,  homesteads  of  320  acres  are 
permitted  on  which  the  settler  shall  cultivate  the  land  ex- 
tensively for  five  years.  The  act  applies  to  non-irrigable 
lands  which  have  not  been  set  aside  as  either  timber  or 
mineral  lands. 

Under  the  Desert  Land  Act,  public  lands  that  are  non- 
irrigable,  and  unsuitable  for  agriculture,  may  be  acquired  in 
blocks  not  exceeding  320  acres,  on  the  payment  of  $1.25 
for  each  acre.  Both  the  original  Homestead  Act  and  the 
Desert  Act  have  been  used  by  speculating  corporations  to 
acquire  large  areas  of  valuable  lands  at  low  figures.     Un- 

Principal  meridian.  The  square  blocks  were  laid  out  from  the  intersection  of 
that  base  line  and  that  meridian. 


PUBLIC  LANDS 


359 


occupied  public  lands  were  formerly  fenced  by  cattlemen, 
who  had  the  use  of  these  lands  without  charge.  A  large 
amount  of  fraud,  brought  to  light  a  few  years  ago  by  careful 
investigations,  led  to  a  widespread  reform  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  land  laws. 

316.  The  Irrigation  Law  of  1902.  —  The  culmination  of 
the  liberal  land  legislation  of  the  United  States  has  been  the 
enactment  (1902)  and  the  application  of  a  law  for  the  irri- 
gation of  lands  which  cannot  be  used  for  agriculture  under 
natural  conditions.     The  government  has  planned,  and  for 


General 
character  of 
the  work- 


^ 

5 

The  Roosevelt  Dam. 


Courtesy  of  Reclamation  Servtee. 


years  has  been  constructing,  great  reservoirs  in  which  the 
spring  floods  are  stored  to  be  used  during  the  summer  and 
fall  for  irrigating  lands  which  would  otherwise  be  unpro- 
ductive. This  policy  applies  only  to  the  states  or  territories 
in  the  western  part  of  the  country.  The  scheme  is  largely 
self-supporting,  as  a  fund  is  created  by  the  sale  of  public 
land  in  these  states.    This  money  is  used  to  construct  dams, 


360 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Problems 
and  results. 


Advantages 
of  our  agri- 
cultural land 
policy  in  the 
past. 


Disadvan- 
tages in  gen- 
eral. 


the  lands  irrigated  from  these  reservoirs  are  sold  to  actual 
settlers,  and  the  rrioney  is  placed  in  the  fund  for  furthei 
expansion  of  the  work.^ 

The  reclamation  service  of  the  Interior  Department  has 
achieved  remarkable  results  in  discovering  districts  that 
might  be  made  arable,  in  planning  and  constructing  dams 
amid  great  engineering  difficulties,  perhaps  hundreds  of 
miles  from  the  territory  provided  with  water.  The  execu- 
tion of  this  plan  has  involved  us  in  international  complica- 
tions, with  Mexico  on  the  lower  Rio  Grande  and  the  Colorado, 
because  the  Mexican  supply  of  water  is  affected,  and  with 
Great  Britain  on  the  Montana  border.  These  are  but  minor 
incidents  in  the  completion  of  a  plan  which  will  literally 
*'  make  the  desert  blossom  as  a  rose." 

317.  Significance  of  Agriculttiral  Land  Policy.  —  Nothing 
has  affected  more  vitally  the  economic,  social,  and  political 
development  of  the  United  States  than  the  disposal  of  our 
agricultural  lands.  During  the  years  following  the  Revolu- 
tionary War  the  public  lands  in  the  West  constituted  the  chief 
bond  of  union  among  the  states.  In  the  West  the  possi- 
bility of  acquiring  title  to  public  lands  was  a  very  important 
factor  in  the  rapid  development  of  the  section  east  of  the 
Mississippi  between  181 5  and  i860,  and  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi after  the  war  for  the  Union.  Our  public  land  policy 
helped  to  keep  us  a  nation  of  small  farmers.  It  aided  in 
the  development  of  a  real  democracy,  which  was  not  simply 
political,  but  economic  and  social  as  well.  It  helped  us  to 
absorb  as  "true  American  citizens  the  multitudes  of  foreigners 
who  have  come  to  us. 

Our  public  lands  were  used,  however,  for  the  purpose  of 
rapid  settlement  and  immediate  economic  development, 
rather  than  for  the  public  welfare  of  the  future  United 


1  Work  has  actually  been  begun  (1916),  on  more  than  35  of  these  projects 
and  the  total  cost  of  work  that  has  been  planned  is  more  than  one  hundred 
millions.  It  is  expected,  however,  that  the  increase  in  value  of  the  lands  brought 
under  irrigation  will  exceed  the  entire  cost  of  construction  by  50  per  cent.  The 
average  value  of  the  crops  from  these  lands  undoubtedly  will  amount  to  one  half 
the  original  cost  of  construction. 


CONSERVATION 


361 


States.  Defective  land  laws,  lax  administration  of  good 
laws,  and  extravagant  land  grants  to  railways  permitted 
the  accumulation  of  many  huge  estates  or  fortunes.  Just 
as  the  establishment  of  small  farms,  three  quarters  of  a 
century  ago,  created  a  West  in  which  political  and  economic 
equality  were  the  rule,  in  later  years  the  land  policy  devel- 
oped a  class  which  grew  rich  and  powerful  at  public  expense, 
through  the  misapplication  or  maladministration  of  these 
land  laws.  In  parting  with  its  greatest  natural  asset,  its 
rich  agricultural  lands,  the  United  States  has  made  a  blunder, 
in  so  far  as  the  lands  did  not  become  the  permanent  homes 
of  a  numerous  and  thrifty  class  of  small  farmers. 


Conservation 

318.    Our  Forest  Policy.  —  Although  the  forests  of  the  Problem  of 
United  States  now  cover  more  than  five  hundred  million  American 
acres,  or  about  one  quarter  of  our  total  area,  it  is  estimated 
that,  if  we  continue  to  cut  timber  without  better  methods 
of  reforestation  and  conservation,  our  forests  will  practically 
be  exhausted  in  less  than  a  half  century. 

The  need  of  protecting  our  timber  lands  ^  led  in  1891  to  National  and 
the  enactment  of  our  national  law  for  the  preservation  of  ^^^^^  ^^^^^ 
forests.  Great  areas  have  been  added  to  our  forest  reserves, 
especially  under  President  Roosevelt,  the  total  in  191 5 
amounting  to  163,000,000  acres  aside  from  reserves  in 
Alaska.  These  reserves  contain  nearly  one  third  of  the 
entire  forest  acreage  of  the  United  States.  Some  of  the 
states  also  have  taken  considerable  interest  in  forest  reser- 
vation, particularly  along  the  Appalachian  mountains  as 
well  as  in  the  Mississippi  basin.    A  few  of  the  states  have 

1  Near  the  headwaters  of  streams  particular  attention  is  paid  to  the  preserva- 
tion of  forests  and  plant  life,  which  will  conserve  the  water,  forming  "sponge- 
like" reservoirs  that  prevent  the  violent  spring  floods  by  holding  the  moisture 
in  the  earth.  This  not  only  tends  to  maintain  a  fairly  uniform  stream-flow 
throughout  the  year,  but  it  prevents  the  erosion  of  soil,  which  is  of  great  value 
to  forestry  on  the  slopes,  but  is  a  hindrance  to  agriculture  if  it  is  deposited  at  the 
foot  of  the  hills,  and  a  menace  to  navigation  if  it  is  allowed  to  form  bars  in  the 
rivers. 


362 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Means  for 
public  pro- 
tection of 
forests. 


Flood  pre- 
vention and 
water  con- 
trol. 


Importance 
of  o;ir  avail- 
able supply 
of  water 
power. 


created  parks  noted  for  natural  beauty  and  for  their  forests. 
Among  the  national  or  state  parks  are  those  at  Niagara 
Falls,  and  the  Yosemite,  the  Glacier,  and  the  Yellowstone 
National  Parks. 

Dangers  of  forest  fire  are  minimized  by  the  construc- 
tion of  fire  breaks  on  the  ridges  of  the  hills,  by  stringent 
regulations  for  campers,  and  by  constant  surveillance.  Some 
timber  is  cut,  less  for  profit  than  to  permit  better  growth 

of    the    remainder.     The 


WESTERN 
IITED  STATES' 


I-     N.JVlEX 
j;'  »••  !— -v^      TEXAS 


W.im»m.Eng.Co.^N.Y. 


extension  of  governmental 
authority  over  private 
owners  for  the  pubUc  good 
must  be  permitted  because 
of  continued  losses  and 
dangers  due  to  deforest- 
ation. 

319.  Water  Conserva- 
tion and  Water  Power.  — 
In  addition  to  reforestation 
of  water  sheds,  simple  rock 
dams  are  now  being  used 
in  mountain  canons  and 
streams  in  addition  to 
reservoirs  which  hold  the  flood  water.  This  construction 
work  both  prevents  the  heavy  losses  due  to  floods  and  gives 
a  uniform  flow  of  water  in  the  streams  during  spring  and 
summer  for  navigation  and  water  supply.  Water  storage 
and  conservation  also  insures  the  cities  an  adequate  supply 
of  water. 

The  growing  use  of  water  for  power  has  been  characteris- 
tic of  recent  years.  Our  supply  of  fuels  is  constantly  being 
diminished,  but  this  "  white  coal "  renews  itself  from  year 
to  year;  by  its  use  we  are  able  to  conserve  mineral 
fuels.  It  has  been  estimated  on  good  authority  that 
the  amount  of  water  power  "  reasonably  available  equals 
or  exceeds  the  entire  mechanical  power  now  in  use,  or 
enough  to  operate  every  mill,  drive  every  spindle,  propel 


CONSERVATION  363 

every  train  and  boat,  and  light  every  town,  city,  or  village 
in  the  country."  ^ 

320.   Inland  Waterways.  —  The  development  of  water-  interrelation 
ways  is  closely  related  to  the  subjects  of  forestation  and  offo^esta- 
water    conservation   which   we   have   just    considered.     If  power,  and 
undertaken  at  all,  it  must  be  through  the  agency  of  our  waterways. 
governments,  and  it  must  be  developed  in  connection  with 
forestry,  storage  reservoirs,  irrigation,  and  soU  conservation. 
As  Gilford  Pinchot  says :    "  Every  river  is  a  unit  from  its 
source  to  its  mouth.     If  it  is  to  be  given  its  highest  usefulness 
to  all  the  people  and  serve  them  for  all  the  uses  they  can 
make  of  it,  it  must  be  developed  with  that  idea  clearly  in 
mind.     To  develop  a  river  for  navigation  alone,  or  power 
alone,  or  irrigation  alone,  is  often  like  using  a  sheep  for 
mutton,  or  a  steer  for  beef,  and  throwing  away  the  leather 
and  the  wool."  ^ 

About  a  century  ago,  before  railways  became  common.  Public  con- 
there  was  a  strong  movement  favoring  the  development  of  structionof 
natural  and  artificial  waterways.     A  sum  far  greater  than  waterway 
that   expended  upon  canals,  however,  has  been  devoted   to  improve- 
river   "  improvement."     Some  of  this   has  been   expended  ^^^^' 
for  necessary  work,  but  most  of  it  has  been  wasted. 

In  central  Europe  a  wise  development  of  waterways  has 
been  of  great  benefit  to  business.  Since  the  United  States 
possesses  better  river  systems  than  Europe,  we  shall  be  wise 
to  formulate  some  policy  for  the  systematic  development  of 
rivers  and  canals.  This  scheme  would  include  reforesta- 
tion of  water  sheds,  construction  of  storage  dams,  improve-  Need  of  a 
ment  of  our  larger  rivers,  which  could  be  made  important  broad  con- 

o  .  r    1  1  servation 

commercially,  and  construction  of  deeper  canals  and  water-   policy, 
ways  from  the  seacoasts  to  the  interior. 

1  It  is  estimated  further  that  by  development  our  waterfalls  will  furnish 
four  or  five  times  as  much  power  as  is  now  used  in  the  Ujiited  States.  In  spite  of 
the  value  of  these  water  powers  we  have  permitted  many  of  our  best  waterifalls 
and  power  sites  to  be  seized  by  powerful  corporations.  The  national  govern- 
ment, however,  has  now  withdrawn  from  entry  most  of  the  best  water  sites  on  a 
great  many  streams. 

2  It  is  easy  to  understand  why  all  navigable  rivers  are  under  the  control  of 
the  national  government. 


3^4 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Administra- 
tion of  the 
old  coal  land 


Revaluation 
and  conser- 
vation of 
lands  con- 
taining min- 
eral fuels. 


Mining 
claims 


Present 
problems  re- 
garding min- 
eral lands. 


321.  Coal  and  Other  Minerals.  —  Although  the  devel- 
opment of  our  water  power  will  reduce  the  demand  for 
mineral  fuels,  every  possible  protective  measure  should  be 
made  to  conserve  our  coal,  petroleum,  and  natural  gas,  the 
supplies  of  which  can  never  be  renewed.  According  to  the 
national  law  of  1864,  modified  in  1873,  coal  lands  may  be 
sold  in  sections  (640  acres)  to  an  association  of  four  citizens 
at  a  price  of  not  less  than  twenty  dollars  an  acre  if  near  a 
railway,  or  ten  dollars  an  acre  if  distant  from  transporta- 
tion. Like  most  land  laws  of  that  day,  this  coal  law  was 
interpreted  for  the  benefit  of  the  purchaser,  and  lands  were 
sold  at  the  minimum  prices. 

Since  19 10,  when  Congress  withdrew  from  sale  nearly  one 
hundred  million  acres  of  coal,  petroleum,  and  phosphate 
lands,  our  government  has  been  examining  and  revaluing 
coal  lands  which  have  been  offered  for  sale  at  much  higher 
prices  than  formerly.  It  has  been  estimated  that,  if  our 
coal  lands  were  leased  by  the  government  at  the  low  rate 
of  3  cents  a  ton,  by  the  time  all  coal  on  public  lands  had 
been  mined,  the  United  States  government  would  have 
received  a  total  revenue  of  more  than  twenty  billion  dollars. 

Metallic  mineral  lands  may  be  taken  up  by  prospectors 
under  a  different  law,  which  requires  miners  to  locate  claims 
not  more  than  six  hundred  feet  wide  and  fifteen  hundred 
feet  long,  but  extending  to  any  depth. 

Aside  from  the  conservation  of  mineral  deposits  on  public 
lands,  the  present  government  problems  are  the  prevention 
of  waste  in  mining,  the  protection  of  the  public  from  the  great 
corporations  that  have  gained  control  of  most  of  the  iron  and 
copper  deposits,  and  the  protection  of  the  lives  and  health  of 
miners. 

322.  The  Past  and  the  Future.  —  The  American  people 
should  be  aroused  to  the  importance  and  the  need  of  dis- 
covering those  policies  that  will  make  the  best  use  of  all 
our  natural  resources,  for  the  present  and  for  the  future. 
We  must  learn  from  our  mistakes,  and  realize  the  present 
truth  of  the  words  which  Albert  Bushnell  Hart  wrote  a  score 


CONSERVATION  365 

of  years  ago :  ^  "  The  golden  time  is  past ;  our  agricultural  land  Mistakes  of 
is  gone;  our  timber  lands  are  fast  going;  our  coal  and  min-  *^®  p^^* 
eral  lands  will  be  snapped  up  as  fast  as  they  prove  valuable. 
There  is  no  great  national  reserve  left  in  the  public  lands 
unless  there  should  be  a  change  in  the  policy.  Should 
disaster  overtake  us,  we  must  depend,  like  other  nations, 
on  the  wealth  of  the  people  and  not  on  that  of  the 
government." 

We  have  seen  in  recent  years  the  adoption  of  a  much 
saner  administrative  policy  in  regard  to  forests  and  coal 
lands.  The  future  must  bring  more  radical  governmental 
activity  for  the  conservation  of  our  soil  and  water,  as  well  as 
other  resources.  Especially  those  most  necessary  to  life 
should  be  treated  as  public  utilities,  to  be  protected  from  The  present 
monopoly  control  and  used  without  waste  for  the  good  of  outlook, 
the  public. 

General  References 

McLaughlin  and  Hart  (eds.),  Cyclopedia  of  American  Governmenty 
III,  51&-527. 

Hart,  Actual  Government,  332-380. 

Hart,  Foundations  of  American  Foreign  Policy,  134-210. 

Willoughby,  Territories  and  Dependencies  of  the  United  States. 

Hart,  Practical  Essays  on  American  Gdvernment,  X. 

Van  Hise,  Conservation  of  Natural  Resources. 

National  Conservation  Commission,  Report,  3  vols. 

Topics 

Liberty  and  Governacent  in  Philippine  Islands  :  Taft,  W.  H.,  in 
Outlook,  71  (1902),  305  et  seq.;  Jenks,  J.  W.,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  26 
(1902),  580-588;  Willoughby,  Territories  and  Dependencies  of  the  United 
States,  184-201. 

Conservation  :  Ashley,  American  Federal  State  (rev.  ed.),  ch.  XXIX ; 
Coman,  Industrial  History  of  the  United  States  (rev.  ed.),  375-413 ;  Nat. 
Conservation  Commission,  Summary  of  Report;  Annals  of  the  American 
Academy,  3;-  (1909),  3-226;  Van  Hise,  Conservation. 

Care  of  Coal  Resources  :  Ashley,  G.  H.,  in  U.  S.  Geology  Survey, 
Bulletin  424;  Michell,  G.  E.,  in  Review  of  Reviews,  41  (1910),  193-204; 
Conference  of  Governors,  Proceedings  (1908),  26-39;  Van  Hise,  Con- 
servation, 23-46. 

1  Hart,  Practical  Essays  on  American  Government,  p.  251. 


366  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

Studies 

•     I.  Territorial  growth  of  the  United  States.    Willoughby,  Territories 
and  Dependencies  of  the  United  States,  27-52. 

2.  Central  government  of  Porto  Rico.  Willoughby,  Territories  and 
Dependencies  of  the  United'  States,  83-107. 

3.  Land  grants  to  railways.  Hart,  Practical  Essays  on  Government, 
247-249. 

4.  Operation  of  the  Homestead  Law.  Van  Hise,  Conservation,  279- 
287. 

5.  Importance  of  our  agricultural  land  policy.  Bullock,  Readings  on 
Public  Finance,  64-72. 

6.  Water  conservation.  Pinchot,  G.,  in  Annals  of  American  Academy, 
31  (1908),  219-227. 

7.  Conservation  of  water  power  in  the  United  States.  Van  Hise, 
Conservation,  144-161. 

8.  Proposed  improvement  of  waterways.  Van  Hise,  Conservation, 
172-179. 

9.  Eastern  forest  reserves.  Aores,  P.  W.,  in  Review  of  Reviews, 
50  (1914)  46-52. 

Questions 

1.  What  territory  has  been  annexed  by  joint  resolution  of  the  houses 
of  Congress?  How  does  it  compare  in  area  with  that  acquired  by 
treaty?  What  states,  besides  the  original  thirteen,  have  never  been 
national  territories? 

2.  What  are  the  limits  of  congressional  control  over  national  terri- 
tory? Is  an  American  resident  in  Hawaii  a  citizen  of  Hawaii?  Com- 
pare the  degree  of  popular  government  in  the  Philippines,  in  Hawaii,  and 
in  this  state. 

3.  When  was  this  state  admitted  to  the  Union?  Were  any  limita- 
tions placed  upon  it  at  that  time  ?  What  is  the  value  of  the  school  lands 
or  the  amount  of  the  fund  created  by  the  sale  of  the  lands?  Does  the 
United  States  still  hold  the  title  to  any  public  lands  in  this  state?  Name 
any  public  buildings,  forts,  or  reservations  in  this  vicinity  belonging  to 
the  national  government. 

4.  How  may  a  homestead  be  secured?  Who  pays  for  the  huge 
reclamation  projects  in  the  West?  Give  merits  and  defects  of  our  agri- 
cultural land  policy.  If  our  government  had  retained  good  agricultural 
lands,  what  should  it  do  with  them  now? 

5.  What  is  a  forest  reserve?  Where  are  forest  reserves  most  valu- 
able? Show  the  close  interrelation  between  forests,  water  power,  and 
waterways. 

6.  Where  are  the  coal  beds  nearest  to  us?  Are  they  owned  by  the 
government?  Why  might  it  be  desirable  to  rent  coal  beds,  using  some 
of  the  land  above  the  beds  for  agriculture? 


CHAPTER  XIX 


FOREIGN  RELATIONS 


Diplomatic  Relations  and  Problems 


323.  International  Relations  in  General.  —  The  relations 
of  civilized  nations  to  one  another  are  determined  by  long- 
standing customs  or  definite  general  agreements.  The  name 
international  law  is  given  to  this  code  of  rules  and  usages 
which  define  the  rights  of  nations  in  their  ordinary  dealings 
with  one  another.  These  rules  specify  the  course  which 
two  powers  at  war  are  supposed  to  follow  in  their  dealings 
with  each  other,  these  nations  being  called  belligerents. 
They  define  the  rights  of  other  nations,  or  neutrals^  and  pre- 
sumably protect  them  from  unfriendly  acts  of  the  belligerents. 
In  time  of  peace  they  permit  the  migration  of  citizens  of  one 
country  to  others,  and  allow  foreign  trade  to  be  carried  on. 

As  there  is  no  international  government  to  make,  enforce, 
or  interpret  these  rules,  they  are  often  indefinite  and  laxly 
observed.  Every  nation  depends  for  its  protection  and  the 
promotion  of  its  interests  chiefly  on  its  international  prestige, 
on  the  treaties  made  through  the  skill  of  its  foreign  represen- 
tatives, on  the  size  of  its  army,  and  the  strength  of  its  navy. 
Without  these  protectors  it  may  be  browbeaten  and  sub- 
jected to  humiliations,  as  we  were  during  the  Napoleonic 
wars  a  century  ago,  or  as  many  neutral  states,  petty  or 
powerful,  are  to-day.  If  it  has  the  misfortune  to  be  in- 
habited by  barbarous  or  semibarbarous  peoples,  it  may  find 
that  it  has  no  rights  which  the  civilized  nations  are  bound  to 
respect. 

324.  American  Influence  on  World  Peace.  —  From  the 
beginning  of  her  history  the  United  States  has  exerted  her 

367 


Interna- 
tional rela- 
tions defined 
through  in- 
ternational 
law. 


Protection 
of  national 
rights. 


368 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


American 
efforts  to 
protect 
neutrals. 


Interna- 
tional arbi- 
tration. 


America  and 
the  future  of 
world  peace. 


influence  to  secure  the  rights  of  neutrals  against  the  aggres- 
sions of  belligerents.  The  proclamation  of  neutrality,  issued 
by  Washington  (1793)  during  the  war  between  the  French 
and  EngUsh,  furnished  not  only  an  example  of  firm  and 
moderate  action  under  trying  circumstances,  but  was  a  model 
copied  by  older  nations  that  wished  to  declare  their  neutrality. 
Since  the  outbreak  of  the  Great  War,  the  United  States  has 
been  more  definitely  than  ever  before  the  champion  of 
neutrals.  She  held  (to  191 7)  a  difiicult  and  rather  consistent 
course  between  the  "  allies "  which  were  endeavoring,  by 
control  of  the  sea  and  blockade,  to  force  the  "  central 
empires  "  into  submission,  and  the  central  empires,  which 
were  seeking,  by  submarine  and  other  new  means  of  warfare, 
to  break  the  food  blockade  and  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  out- 
side world. 

The  United  States  has  long  been  an  advocate  of  arbitra- 
tion as  a  means  of  solving  international  difficulties,  and  has 
used  that  method  repeatedly  since  the  adoption  of  the  Con- 
stitution, especially  in  the  settlement  of  disputes  with  Great 
Britain.  For  several  years  before  1908,  however,  progress  in 
international  arbitration  was  delayed  by  the  desire  of  the 
United  States  Senate  to  increase  its  share  in  the  making  of 
arbitration  treaties.  Since  1908,  through  the  influence  of 
Presidents  Roosevelt  and  Taft  and  Secretary  of  State  Bryan, 
a  large  number  of  arbitration  treaties  have  been  made. 

Americans  have  been  very  active  in  the  promotion  of 
peace  by  holding  national  conferences,  by  seeking  to  keep 
peace  in  the  western  hemisphere,  and  by  securing  a  second 
Peace  Conference  at  the  Hague  in  1907.  As  the  only  great 
power  with  direct  access  to  both  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific, 
as  the  most  disinterested  spectator  of  European  political 
maneuvers,  and  of  contests  in  the  Orient  for  territorial,  po- 
litical, ox  commercial  advantage,  the  United  States  will  un- 
doubtedly have  in  the  future  a  still  greater  share  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  world's  peace. 

325.  The  Monroe  Doctrine.  —  The  messages  of  several 
Presidents  have  been  the  means  of  announcing  new  foreign 


DIPLOMATIC   RELATIONS 


369 


policies,  which  have  been  reaffirmed  by  subsequent  adminis- 
trations. President  Monroe's  regular  message  of  Decem- 
ber, 1823,  and  President  Cleveland's  special  message  dealing 
with  the  Venezuela  controversy  (1895),  have  rather  clearly 
defined  the  attitude  of  the  United  States  toward  the  nations 
of  the  Old  World  in  their  deaUngs  with  those  of  the  New. 
It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  which  is 
recognized  and  respected  almost  as  a  part  of  international 
law,  is  nothing  more  than  the  policy  of  the  executive  depart- 
ment of  our  national  government  developed  through  three 
generations.^ 

In  spite  of  a  certain  indefiniteness,  the  Monroe  Doctrine 
may  be  said  to  include  the  following  principles.  No  Euro- 
pean power  can  colonize  any  American  territory,  with  or 
without  the  consent  of  the  American  republic  whose  territory 
is  taken ;  no  great  European  power  shall,  decide  territorial 
controversies  with  the  weaker  American  states  to  its  own 
advantage ;  no  one  of  the  great  nations  may  occupy  or  retain 
the  territory  of  a  republic  of  this  continent  to  guarantee  the 
payment  of  debts  owed  in  Europe.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
do  not  object  to  the  use  of  force,  if  necessary,  to  collect  debts 
that  a  Spanish- American  state  may  refuse  to  pay,  nor  do  we 
interfere  in  ordinary  disputes  between  the  nations  of  the  Old 
World  and  the  New,  although  we  always  offer  our  services  in 
the  settlement  of  the  controversy. 

During  recent  years  there  has  been  considerable  interest 
in  what  might  be  called  the  Pan-American  Doctrine.  •  In  a 
much  narrower  and  truer  sense  than  the  Monroe  Doctrine 

^  As  the  Monroe  Doctrine  is  the  pohcy  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
it  varies  with  each  executive.  President  Roosevelt  favored  a  very  great  exten- 
sion of  the  doctrine.  Other  chief  executives  have  wished  to  restrict  it.  Con- 
tinued misgovernment  in  a  Latin-American  repubUc,  coupled  with  interference 
with  foreigners  and  foreign  property  rights,  certainly  calls  for  supervision  by 
the  United  States,  as  Roosevelt  insisted,  or  for  interference  by  European  powers 
if  American  diplomacy  and  moral  suasion  fail.  Unfortunately  the  more  pro- 
gressive Latin-American  countries  fear  Uncle  Sam's  interference  more  than 
that  of  Europe.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  arouses  the  hostility  of  these  people 
and  interferes  with  their  friendship  for  us  and  their  trade  with  us.  We  must 
expand  the  doctrine,  or  we  must  limit  it  to  unwarranted  interference  by  Europe, 
or  we  must  abandon  it. 


Original  and 
later  an- 
nounce- 
ments of  the 
United 
States. 


Principles  of 
the  present 
Monroe 
Doctrine. 


The  Pan- 
American 
Doctrine. 


370 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Process  of 

negotiating 

treaties. 


The  Senate 
and  the  rati- 
fication of 
treaties. 


Use  of 
treaties  in 
the  acquisi- 
tion of  terri- 
tory. 


it  advocates  the  idea  of  "  America  for  Americans."  It  seeks 
to  create  solidarity  of  interests,  especially  commercial  and 
international,  among  the  republics  of  the  north  and  south 
American  continents. 

326.  The  Making  of  Treaties.  —  The  foreign  policy  of  the 
United  States  depends  to  a  very  great  extent  upon  the  wishes 
of  the  President,  although  he  does  all  of  his  business  with 
other  nations  through  the  Department  of  State,  and  is  com- 
pelled to  gain  the  consent  of  two  thirds  of  the  Senate  before 
any  treaties  take  effect.  The  actual  negotiation  between  the 
United  States  and  a  foreign  power  is  conducted  by  our  Sec- 
retary of  State  in  Washington  (§  236),  or  by  our  ambassador 
at  the  capital  of  the  nation  interested.  The  provisions  of  a 
treaty  of  peace  at  the  close  of  a  war  are  usually  arranged  at 
the  capital  of  some  neutral  nation,  both  contestants  being 
represented  by  special  envoys  plenipotentiary. 

In  order  that  a  treaty  may  not  be  rejected  by  the  Senate, 
the  executive  department  is  accustomed  to  consult  the  leaders 
of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  The  Senate 
never  hesitates  to  reject  the  whole  or  part  of  a  treaty  or  to 
amend  any  section.  If  the  change  is  relatively  unimportant, 
it  will  usually  be  approved  by  the  foreign  government,  other- 
wise negotiations  are  broken  off  entirely  or  begun  again  as 
for  an  entirely  new  treaty.^ 

Many  Presidents,  through  the  exercise  of  the  right  to  make 
treaties,  have  won  fame  for  themselves,  and  given  oppor- 
tunity for  national  development,  by  acquiring  new  territory. 
This  expansion  has  added  greatly  to  the  power  of  the  national 
government,  not  only  through  the  prestige  gained  for  the 
President  by  acts  of  such  far-reaching  importance,  but  on 
account  of  the  increased  use  of  executive  and  congressional 
authority  in  governing  the  new  territories  (§§  309-311). 

1  Although  treaties  are  made  without  consulting  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, they  are  as  much  a  part  of  the  supreme  law  of  the  United  States  as  statutes 
passed  by  the  Congress.  A  treaty  supersedes  a  previously  existing  statute 
with  which  it  is  in  conflict,  although  it  may  in  turn  be  abrogated  by  a  later  law. 
If  a  treaty  deals  at  all  with  questions  of  finance,  the  injustice  of  not  consulting 
the  House  is  evident,  and  the  more  popular  chamber  may  refuse  to  grant  appro- 
priations to  carry  such  a  treaty  into  effect. 


NATIONAL  DEFENSE  37I 

National  Defense 

327.   The    Need   of   Preparedness.  —  One   of   the   most  The  problem 
serious  of  all  national  problems  is  that  of  defense  against  of  prepared- 
other  powers.     Before  the  Great  War  the  nations  of   con-  roS  before 
tinentai  Europe  were  obliged  to  maintain  large  standing   191 4- 
armies    on    account    of    their    nearness    to    one    another. 
Before  19 14  England  did  not  believe  in  a  large  standing 
army,  although  her  most  able  military  leader  of  the  early 
twentieth  century,  Lord  Roberts,  had  shown  the  necessity 
of  conscription  for  real  military  preparedness.     On  the  other 
hand,   England,   because  of  her  insular  position  and  her 
numerous  scattered  colonies,  had  placed  great  dependence 
upon  her  navy.     While  her  continental  neighbors  were  vying 
with  one  another  in  the  size  of  their  armies  and  the  number 
of  their  reserves  ready  for  instant  use,   England  sought 
almost  with  frenzy  to  keep  her  navy  nearly  twice  as  large 
as  that  of  any  other  power. 

The  United  States,  having  no  powerful  neighbors,  has  Lessons  of 
given  the  subject  little  thought  until  recent  years.     The   tj|e  Great 
advantage  of  adequate  military  and  naval  preparedness  for  America, 
war,  as  a  preventive  of  war  or  as  a  means  of  successful  protec- 
tion if  attacked,  has  been  emphasized  many  times  in  the  half 
century  just   closed.     Since  events  of  recent  years  have 
proved  that  international  faith  is  kept  no  better  among 
modern  civilized  nations  than  it  was  a  century  or  two  ago, 
we  must  not  be  blinded  by  our  desire  for  peace,  by  our  de- 
termination to  keep  peace,  or  by  the  establishment  of  peace 
conferences  and  courts  such  as  those  at  the  Hague.     Events 
since  19 14  prove  that  in  case  of  a  great  international  conflict, 
it  is  not  easy  for  the  most  peaceable  neutral,  even  at  a 
distance,  to  keep  out  of  war. 

Congress  has  the  sole  right  of  declaring  war,  of  raising  an  MiUtary 
army,  and  of  creating  a  navy,  and  of  maintaining  the  militia.   Pp^^^^  of 
As  the  President  is  commander  in  chief  of  the  army  and  the  Presi- 
navy,  he  may  bring  on  war  not  only  through  diplomatic  dent, 
negotiations,  but  through  forceful  invasion  of  an  enemy's 


372 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Standing 
armies  in 
the  past  and 
at  present. 


Raising  an 
army  during 
the  Great 
War. 


territory  or  infringement  of  their  rights.  In  time  of  war  no 
President  has  ever  taken  personal  command  of  our  miHtary 
forces. 

328.  The  Army.  —  Until  recent  years  public  sentiment  in 
the  United  States  has  favored  a  small  standing  army.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  fear  of  military  despotism  caused  our 
forefathers  to  insert  in  the  Constitution  the  clause  which 
permits  Congress  to  vote  money  for  an  army  for  a  period  not 
longer  than  two  years.  In  the  nineteenth  century  the  army 
included  not  more  than  25,000  men ;  after  1901  the  maximum 
was  100,000.  By  the  law  of  May,  1916,  the  regular  army 
was  increased  to  two  hundred  and  eight  thousand,  with 
arrangements  for  reserves  and  for  a  larger  force  in  time  of  war.^ 

After  the  war  broke  out  in  April,  191 7,  the  question  arose, 
should  we  depend  upon  a  volunteer  system  or  have  a  selective 
draft.  The  latter  plan  was  favored  and  was  adopted  in  May, 
191 7.  The  first  selective  service  law  provided  that  the 
national  army  should  be  organized  from  those  able-bodied 
young  men,  without  dependents,  who  were  not  less  than 
twenty-one  or  more  than  thirty.  They  were  divided  into 
five  classes,  according  to  the  number  of  their  dependents 
and  the  character  of  their  work.  As  provided  by  the  "  work 
or  fight  '^  provision,  some  were  assigned  to  the  army  and 
others  were  expected  to  engage  in  essential  industries.  In 
August,  191 8,  a  second  selective  service  law  was  passed, 
which  provided  for  the  registration  of  all  other  men  between 
eighteen  and  forty-five  inclusive.  From  the  first  group 
a  national  army  of  more  than  two  million  was  created, 
supplemented  by  a  regular  army  and  a  volunteer  army  of 
more  than  a  million  others.  By  1920,  the  army  had  been 
returned  again  to  a  peace  footing  and  a  standing  army  of  only 
280,000  including  the  Philippine  scouts. 

The  value  of  an  army  depends  far  more  upon  its  organi- 
zation, training,  and  equipment  than  upon  its  size.    Quite  as 

^  When  war  occurs  the  regular  force  is  supplemented  by  volunteers  who  enlist 
usually  for  a  term  of  three  years  or  for  the  period  of  the  war.  During  the  Civil 
War  the  enlistments  numbered  2,859,132,  chiefly  volunteers,  from  a  loyal  popu- 
lation of  a  little  more  than  twenty  million. 


NATIONAL  DEFENSE  373 

important  is  the  skill  of  the  officers  and  the  organization  of  Training  of 
the  General  Staff  (§236).     Since   1802  officers  have  been  j^i^^ary 
trained  for  the  American  army  at  the  West  Point  Military 
Academy.^     Other  officers  are  trained  in  different  schools, 
and  civilian  camps  have  recently  been  established  at  which 
the  rudiments  of  mihtary  tactics  have  been  taught. 

329.  The  Militia.  —  In  colonial  times  the  men  of  the  Dependence 
village  met  on  the  village  "  green  "  or  "  common  "  for  drill.  ?^  ^  "^^i^ 
At  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  colonial  ^^  ^  ^^^  * 
militia,  known  as  the  "  minute  men,"  were  first  in  the  field. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  President  Lincoln  immedi- 
ately called  upon  the  states  for  seventy-five  thousand  militia- 
men. Later  he  asked  for  four  hundred  thousand  men.  We 
can  see  from  these  statements  that  the  American  people 
have  favored  a  militia  and  have  made  use  of  militia  in  time 
of  emergency .2 

Under  the  law  of  191 6  the  militia  is  organized  as  a  definite  MiUtia 
supplement  to  the  national  army,  and  they  may  be  drafted  ^t^p^ent^^ 
into  the  regular  army.  Even  if  they  remain  a  militia  force, 
they  may  be  called  upon  by  the  President  to  suppress  in- 
surrections and  repel  invasions,  for  they  are  subject  to  the 
same  rules  as  the  regular  soldiers,  except  that  they  may  be 
kept  in  service  only  nine  months  in  the  year. 

330.  Naval  Defense.  —  Because  of  our  geographical  situa- 
tion and  our  lack  of  powerful  neighbors,  we  place  depend- 
ence upon  a  navy  rather  than  upon  an  army.  The  long 
coast  line  with  fine  harbors  giving  entrance  to  our  largest 
cities,  our  interests  in  the  Canal  Zone  on  the  borders  of  the 
Caribbean,  a  sea  of  great  future  importance,  our  depend- 

1  Each  congressional  district  or  territory  is  permitted  to  send  one  cadet,  who 
is  named  by  the  representatives  when  a  vacancy  occurs;  two  are  appointed 
by  the  senators  from  every  state,  and  forty  are  selected  by  the  President  from 
the  country  at  large.  After  a  four  years'  course,  graduates  of  the  academy  are 
granted  commissions  as  second  lieutenants  in  the  regular  army. 

2  Theoretically  this  branch  of  the  miUtary  service  includes  all  able-bodied 
men  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and  forty-five,  a  total  of  more  than  thirteen 
million.  Only  a  little  more  than  one  per  cent  of  these,  however,  are  enlisted 
regularly  and  under  discipline.  They  form  the  actual  militia,  known  as  the 
national  guard  of  the  United  $tates,  and  are  in  no  sense  a  reserve  army. 


374 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


T' 

1    HV       ^^^ 

©  Underwood  and  Underwood. 
Scene  at  the  Annapolis  Naval  Academy. 


encies  in  mid-Pacific  and  at  the  gateway  of  the  Far  East; 
all  these  require  naval  and  coast  defenses  of  superior  char- 
acter.^   If  navies  are  desirable  at  all,  no  other  country  save 


The  Battleship  Nevada. 


©  E.  Mtaier,  Jr. 


1  To  facilitate  the  movements  of  the  navy,  naval  stations  have  been  estab- 
lished at  various  places  with  intermediate  coaling  stations.  A  hundred  million 
dollars  have  been  spent  for  the  construction  of  docks  and  navy  yards,  the  latter 


NATIONAL  DEFENSE 


375 


England  requires  so  great  a  navy  as  the  United  States  of 
America. 

In  these  days,  when  an  ordinary  war  can  be  fought  in  Someprob- 
one  third  of  the  time  in  which  a  battleship  can  be  constructed,  ^^^^  of  naval 
if  we  are  to  have  a  navy,  there  seems  to  be  no  alternative  ness. 
but  the  constant  construction  of  great  fighting  machines, 
which  improvements  will  make  obsolete  within  a  few  years. 


E.  Muller,  Jr. 


Firing  a  Torpedo  from  a  Destroyer. 


As  we  are  no  longer  a  seafaring  people  and  have  no  large 
merchant  marine,  we  usually  lack  sailors  and  colliers  in  time 
of  war.  These  needs  must  be  considered.  Modern  wars 
are  fought  chiefly  by  engineers ;  therefore  our  engineers,  in 
case  of  war,  should  not  be  inferior  to  those  of  any  opponent. 
Since  1845  we  have  had  a  naval  academy  at  Annapolis, 
Maryland,  for  the  training  of  officers.     Many  of  our  seacoast 

being  now  equipped  for  building  war  vessels,  including  battleships.  We  now 
have  also  a  government  plant  for  the  manufacture  of  armor  plate. 


376 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Land  axid 
water  pro- 
tection. 


states  have  in  addition  a  naval  militia,  and  during  recent  years 
many  civilians  have  interested  themselves  in  naval  affairs. 

331.  Coast  Defense.  —  In  theory,  at  least,  our  preparation 
for  war  has  been  undertaken  with  a  view  to  avoiding  future 
conflicts.  This  has  made  it  especially  necessary  to  defend 
our  coasts,  because  of  the  great  value  of  the  property  that 
might  be  destroyed  by  hostile  vessels.  At  all  prominent  sea- 
ports, some  forms  of  coast  defense  are  provided.     The  most 

important  of  these 
are  the  coast  defense 
vessels,  which  may 
be  heavily  armored 
monitors  or  float- 
ing batteries,  and 
the  land  batteries. 
The  channels  are 
well  guarded  by  tor- 
pedoes or  submarine 
mines,  controlled 
from  the  nearest 
fort  or  battery  by 
means  of  electricity. 
The  most  powerful  weapon  of  coast  defense  is  the  submarine. 
Of  course  many  harbors  are  totally  undefended,  or  so  inader 
quately  that  a  fleet  could  reduce  the  defenses  without  difficulty, 
but  we  should  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  undefended 
ports  may  not  be  bombarded,  according  to  international 
law. 

332.  Pension  Legislation.  —  Control  of  military  affairs 
demands  not  only  consideration  of  possible  future  wars,  but 
reparation  for  past  conflicts.^    National  honor  requires  that 

1  The  pension  policy  of  the  United  States  has  passed  through  two  periods. 
Before  1890,  only  those  who  had  been  actually  disabled  in  service,  or  who  had 
been  left  destitute  by  the  death  in  war  of  the  wage  earner  of  the  family,  received 
pensions.  Since  1890,  any  soldier  who  suffered  the  loss  of  even  a  finger  in  battle, 
or  has  since  become  unable  to  provide  for  himself,  can  be  placed  on  the  pension 
list.  By  the  law  of  1907  pensions  of  $12  or  more  are  given  to  all  old  soldiers 
over  sixty-two  years  of  age,  increasing  to  $20  at  seventy-five  years.  In  1915 
pensioners  numbered  748,147,  and  the  expenditures  were  $164,387,941. 


©  International  FUm  Service,  Inc.,  N.  Y. 

Coast  Defense  Battery. 


NATIONAL  DEFENSE 


377 


the  families  of  those  soldiers  who  gave  their  lives  for  their 
country  in  the  time  of  its  extremity  shall  not  be  left  to 
suffer  for  want  of  the  necessaries  of  existence.  Congress 
has,  in  fact,  done  much  more.     Any  soldier  or  seaman  who 


'  ©  Vnderwooa  and  Underwood. 
Gathering  of  Veterans  for  Gettysburg  Reunion  (1913). 

enlisted  in  the  Civil  War,  and  who  is  now  unable  to  earn  a 
livelihood,  may  receive  a  monthly  pension  from  the  govern- 
ment. Old-age  pensions  are  also  given  to  soldiers,  irrespec- 
tive of  their  disability.  Numerous  soldiers'  homes,  besides 
special  sanatoriums,  are  provided  for  aged  or  invalid  veterans. 
During  the  Great  War  a  compensation  plan  was  adopted. 
(see  §  269).  In  case  a  soldier  died  or  was  disabled,  special 
extra  monthly  payments  were  made  to  his  dependents. 

333.  The  Problem  of  Military  Preparedness.  —  As  indi- 
cated above,  preparedness  to-day  is  different  from  prepared- 
ness a  few  years  ago.  Whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  in- 
fluence of  the  Great  War,  it  has  proved  conclusively  that 
a    little   preparedness   is   a   dangerous   thing.     While    we 


Need  of  pre- 
paredness. 


378 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


True  de- 
ments of 
military  pre- 
paredness. 


Real  pre- 
paredness as 
a  means  of 
securing 
world  peace. 


Some  things 
which  war 
has  done  for 
civilization. 


are  not  threatened  by  near  and  dangerous  neighbors,  never- 
theless, so  long  as  international  faith  seems  to  be  kept  only 
with  the  strong,  if  we  are  to  be  prepared  in  case  of  war,  we 
should  be  effectively  and  thoroughly  prepared  from  a  mili- 
tary and  naval  point  of  view.  It  is  said  that,  if  we  have  a 
finer  navy  and  a  larger  army,  we  shall  be  tempted  to  engage 
in  war.  If  we  must  choose  between  two  evils,  unprepared- 
ness  or  the  possibility  of  war  in  which  we  are  the  aggressors, 
let  us  choose  the  lesser  evil. 

Military  preparedness  does  not  consist  chiefly  in  an  army 
or  in  fine  battleships.  Modern  wars  are  far  more  affairs  of 
engineers  and  of  munitions  than  they  are  of  fortresses  and 
warships.  One  modern  cannon  with  trained  men  "  behind 
the  gun  "  will  accomplish  ten  times  as  much  as  a  cannon 
manned  by  ignorant  officers  and  unskilled  gunners.  All  wars 
have  proved  that  raw  troops  are  no  match  for  a  much  smaller 
number  of  veterans.  In  short,  military  preparedness  con- 
sists far  more  in  the  quality  and  the  thoroughness  of  the 
preparation  than  in  the  amount. 

Military  preparedness  may  or  may  not  be  a  part  of  real 
preparedness  (§  334).  Real  preparedness  will  guarantee 
safety  if  trouble  is  forced  upon  us;  it  will  enable  us  to 
work  more  effectively  for  peace.  If  we  are  prepared,  we 
can  help  the  neutrals  of  the  world  to  organize  a  league 
which  shall  protect  their  rights  and  secure  permanent  peace. 
Possibly  we  may  be  able  to  lead  the  way  toward  some 
international  government  which  will  organize  all  civilized 
Christian  nations  into  a  league  or  state  for  the  purpose 
of  keeping  the  peace  of  the  world.  Such  a  league  must 
be  adequately  organized;  it  should  have  a  police  force,  a 
strong  axmy,  and  authority  to  uphold  the  law  which  must 
not  be  broken  by  greedy  financiers,  unscrupulous  politicians, 
and  ambitious  nations. 

334.  Real  Preparedness.  —  Much  as  we  dislike  war  and 
shrink  from  the  horrors  and  inexcusable  destructiveness 
of  war,  we  must  admit  that  wars,  even  in  modern  times, 
have  done  something  toward  advancing  civilization.    War  is 


NATIONAL  DEFENSE  379 

often  a  modern  miracle  worker.  There  are  people  who  in 
peace  were  lazy,  selfish,  and  extravagant,  living  useless  lives, 
satisfied  with  themselves,  and  content  to  forget  the  hardships 
which  others  suffered  and  the  injustice  of  the  social  and 
economic  order  under  which  they  lived.  War  came,  and 
these  people,  forgetting  self,  foregoing  leisure  and  luxury, 
made  sacrifices  for  home  ,and  country  which  have  made 
them  better  men  and  women  individually,  and  which  made 
their  nation  great.  Reformers  had  pleaded,  business  men 
had  urged,  physicians  had  contended  that  liquor  was  an  evil 
and  a  menace  to  modern  society,  yet  war,  which  accepts  no 
efficiency  except  the  highest,  did  more  for  the  suppression  of  the 
European  liquor  traffic  in  one  year  than  moralists,  scientists, 
and  employers  had  accomplished  in  the  preceding  generation. 

War  must  not  be  a  greater  civilizing  agency  than  peace.  Why  peace 
If  our  schools  give  a  slipshod,  half-hearted  education,  abso-  "JJ^ghmoTe"^ 
lutely  lacking  in  thoroughness ;  if  our  industrial  life  is  noted  than  war. 
for  its  inefficiency,  its  poor  methods,  and  its  lack  of  results ; 
if  society  is  divided  into  classes  in  which  a  few  have  all  the 
wealth,  power,  influence,  and  rights,  while  the  many  bear 
all  the  burdens  and  meet  with  nothing  but  injustice;  then 
peace  rather  than  war  is  the  failure.  We  read  with  horror  of 
men  shot  down  brutally  in  great  masses,  yet  some  of  us  have 
never  given  a  thought  to  the  army  of  workers  that  every 
week  give  up  their  lives  as  victims  of  modern  economic  prog- 
ress. In  a  single  year,  in  this  civilized  country  of  ours, 
five  times  as  many  people  are  killed  in  industry  as  fell  on 
both  sides  at  the  great  three  days'  battle  of  Gettysburg. 
But  this  is  not  all.  The  injured  victims  of  our  industrial 
system  number  considerably  more  than  a  million  every  year ; 
few  European  countries  had  as  large  an  annual  list  of  wounded 
soldiers  in  the  Great  War. 

Real  preparedness  is  a  process  of  more  thorough  prepara-  Prepared- 
tion,  of  greater  efficiency  in  the  school,  in  the  office,  and  in  p^^^  to^^r- 
the  shop,  of  better  character.     It  will  not  be  content  with  sonai  and 
selfishness,  personal  or  national,  nor  will  it  be  satisfied  with  national 
a  patriotism  of  peace  one  whit  less  true  and  whole-hearted  ^^^  ^^^* 


380  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

than  the  patriotism  evoked  by  war.  It  demands  that  wci 
give  thought,  and  ever  more  thought,  to  our  country  and 
its  problems,  for  our  country  and  its  needs. 

General  References 

Hart,  Actual  Government,  430-445,  459-480. 

Curtis,  The  United  States  and  Foreign  Powers. 

Coolidge,  The  United  States  as  a  World  Power. 

Schuyler,  American  Diplomacy. 

Foster,  The  Practice  of  Diplomacy. 

Huidekoper,  Military  Unpreparedness  of  the  United  States. 

Topics 

America  as  the  Champion  of  Neutrals  :  Schuyler,  American  Di- 
plomacy, 367-398;  Foster,  Century  of  American  Diplomacy,  93,  154-157, 
347-349;  American  Year  Book  (1915),  1-69. 

The  American  Navy  :  Meyer,  G.  von  L.,  in  Scientific  American,  112 
(1915),  339-340,  359-360;  Reinsch,  Readings  in  American  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, 628-650;  Tardy,  W.  B.,  in  Engineering  Magazine,  41  (1911), 
545-568;  Edwards,  J.  R.,  in  Engineering  Magazine,  50  (1915),  173-194; 
Fiske,  B.  A.,  in  World's  Work,  33  (1917),  256-275. 

Preparedness:  Garrison,  L.  M.,  in  North  American  Review,  201 
(1915),  833-840;  Oskison,  J.  M.,  World's  Work,  2g  (1915),  447-469; 
Roosevelt,  T.,  in  Everybody's,  32  (1915),  120-128;  Haines,  C.  O.,  in 
North  American  Review,  202  (1915),  385-394;  Garfield,  H.,  America's 
Opportunities  and  Obligations;  Huidekoper,  Military  Unpreparedness  of 
the  United  States,  524-536. 

Studies 

1.  Duties  of  belligerent  states  toward  neutral  states.  Lawrence, 
Principles  of  International  Law,  500-517. 

2.  Selection  of  diplomats.     Foster,  Practice  of  Diplomacy,  $^-54. 

3.  Immunities  of  diplomats.     Foster,  Practice  of  Diplomacy,  isg-ij^^. 

4.  Negotiation  of  treaties.  Beard,  Readings  in  American  Govern- 
ment and  Politics,  297-302. 

5.  Recognition  of  a  new  government.     Bea-rd,  Readings,  $02-^0$. 

6.  Military  laws  and  procedure.     Beard,  Readings,  308-322. 

7.  Signal  corps  in  war  time.  Greely,  A.  W.,  in  Century  Magazine,  66 
(1903),  811-826. 

8.  Promotion  in  the  army.    Parker,  J.  H.,  in  Forum,  33  (1902),  151- 

159. 

9.  General  Stafif.     Carter,  W.  H.,  in  North  American  Review,  175 

(1902),  558-565. 


NATIONAL  DEFENSE  381 

10.  New  Naval  Academy.  Wainwright,  R.,  in  World^s  Work,  4 
(1902),  2269-2285;  Worthington,  W.  F.,  in  Engineering  Magazine,  32 
(1907),  844-859. 

1 1 .  Defense  of  the  Pacific  coast.  Dutton,  A.  H, ,  in  Overland  Monthly, 
50  (1907),  199-207. 

12.  Waterway  defenses  of  the  Atlantic  coast.  Roe,  W.  J.,  in  Popular 
Science  Monthly,  69  (1906),  530-538. 

Questions 

1.  Compare  the  rights  of  neutrals  in  relation  to  belligerents  with  the 
obligations  of  neutrals  toward  belligerents. 

2.  Give  reasons  why  the  United  States  has  developed  into  a  world 
power.  What  has  the  United  States  done  for  the  protection  of  neutrals? 
for  the  development  of  world  peace? 

3.  State  the  principles  of  the  original  Monroe  Doctrine;  of  the 
Monroe  Doctrine  at  present. 

4.  Name  at  least  four  representatives  of  the  United  States  at  foreign 
courts.  Name  two  foreign  ambassadors  at  Washington.  Give  some 
account  of  at  least  two  of  these  men.  Are  there  any  consuls  of  foreign 
powers  in  the  city  in  which  we  live? 

5.  Why  is  naval  preparedness  important  to  America?  What  is  the 
purpose  of  the  West  Point  Military  Academy?  What  is  the  value  of  a 
militia  to-day  ? 

6.  Look  up  the  number  of  vessels  of  each  class  in  the  navy.  Com- 
pare the  navy  with  that  of  Germany ;  with  that  of  Japan.  What  is  the 
difference  between  a  battleship  and  a  battle  cruiser?  between  a  battle 
cruiser  and  a  protected  cruiser  ?  between  a  cruiser  and  a  torpedo  boat  ? 
between  a  destroyer  and  a  submarine? 

7.  Why  is  military  preparedness  a  matter  of  engineering,  of  training, 
of  munitions  and  of  finance  rather  than  of  soldiers?  Why  is  real  pre- 
paredness a  matter  of  thoroughness  and  excellence  in  all  of  the  arts  of 
peace  ?  What  reforms  in  present  conditions  are  necessary  to  develop  real 
preparedness? 


APPENDIX 


A.  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED   STATES 


We  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  Order  to  form  a  more  Pream- 
perfect  Union,  establish  Justice,  insure  domestic  Tranquility,  pro-  blk.     Ob- 
vide  for  the  common  defence,  promote  the  general  Welfare,  and  ^^  ^"..     ^ 
secure  the  Blessings  of   Liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  Posterity,  tion. 
do  ordain  and  establish  this  Constitution  for  the  United  States 
of  America. 


Article.  I. 

Section  1.  All  legislative  Powers  herein  granted  shall  be  vested 
in  a  Congress  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senate 
and  House  of  Representatives. 

Section  2.  [1]  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  be  composed 
of  Members  chosen  every  second  Year  by  the  People  of  the  several 
States,  and  the  Electors  in  each  State  shall  have  the  Qualifications 
requisite  for  Electors  of  the  most  numerous  Branch  of  the  State 
Legislature. 

[2]  No  Person  shall  be  a  Representative  who  shall  not  have  at- 
tained to  the  age  of  twenty-five  Years,  and  been  seven  Years  a 
Citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be 
an  Inhabitant  of  that  State  in  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

[3]  [Representatives  and  direct  Taxes  shall  be  apportioned 
among  the  several  States  which  may  be  included  within  this 
Union,  according  to  their  respective  Numbers,  which  shall  be 
determined  by  adding  to  the  whole  Number  of  free  Persons, 
including  those  bound  to  Service  for  a  Term  of  Years,  and  exclud- 
ing Indians  not  taxed,  three  fifths  of  all  other  Persons.]  The 
actual  Enumeration  shall  be  made  within  three  Years  after 
the  first  Meeting  of  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and 
within  every  subsequent  Term  of  ten  Years,  in  such  Manner  as 
they  shall  by  Law  direct.      The  Number  of  Representatives  shall 

383 


CONQRESS. 

Two 
bouses. 


House  of 
Represen- 
tatives. 
Term  and 
election. 

Qualifica- 
tions— 
age,  citi- 
zensbip, 
residence. 
Method  of 
apportion- 
ing repre- 
sentatives. 
(Part  in 
brackets 
super- 
seded by 
Sec.  2  of 
Amend- 
ment 
XIV.) 
Cenaufi 


384 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Tempo- 
rary 
appor- 
tionment. 


Vacancies. 


Officers. 


not  exceed  one  for  every  thirty  Thousand,  but .  each  State  shall 
have  at  least  one  Representative  ;  and  until  such  enumeration 
shall  be  made,  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  shall  be  entitled  to 
chuse  three,  Massachusetts  eight,  Rhode-Island  and  Providence 
Plantations  one,  Connecticut  five,  New  York  six.  New  Jersey  four, 
Pennsylvania  eight,  Delaware  one,  Maryland  six,  Virginia  ten, 
North  Carolina  five.  South  Carolina  five,  and  Georgia  three. 

[4]  When  vacancies  happen  in  the  Representation  from  any 
State,  the  Executive  Authority  thereof  shall  issue  Writs  of  Elec- 
tion to  fill  such  Vacancies. 

[5]  The  House  of  Representatives  shall  chuse  their  Speaker  and 
other  Officers ;  and  shall  have  the  sole  Power  of  Impeachment. 


Senate. 
Election 
and  term. 

Division  of 
Senators 
into  three 


Vacancies. 


Qualifica- 
tions — 
age,  citi- 
zensiiip, 
residence. 
Vice-presi- 
dent. 


Officers. 


Trial  of 
impeach- 
ments. 


Section  3.  [1]  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  com- 
posed of  two  Senators  from  each  State,  chosen  by  the  Legislature 
thereof,  for  six  Years ;  and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  Vote. 

[2]  Immediately  after  they  shall  be  assembled  in  Consequence 
of  the  first  Election,  they  shall  be  divided  as  equally  as  may  be  into 
three  Classes.  The  Seats  of  the  Senators  of  the  first  Class  shall  be 
vacated  at  the  Expiration  of  the  second  Year,  of  the  second  Class 
at  the  Expiration  of  the  fourth  Year,  and  of  the  third  Class  at  the 
Expiration  of  the  sixth  Year,  so  that  one-third  may  be  chosen 
every  second  Year ;  and  if  Vacancies  happen  by  Resignation,  or 
otherwise,  during  the  Recess  of  the  Legislature  of  any  State,  the 
Executive  thereof  may  make  temporary  Appointments  until  the 
next  Meeting  of  the  Legislature,  which  shall  then  fill  such  Va- 
cancies. 

[3]  No  Person  shall  be  a  Senator  who  shall  not  have  attained  to 
the  Age  of  thirty  Years,  and  been  nine  Years  a  Citizen  of  the  United 
States,  and  who  shall  not,  when  elected,  be  an  Inhabitant  of  that 
State  for  which  he  shall  be  chosen. 

[4]  The  Vice  President  of  the  United  States  shall  be  President 
of  the  Senate,  but  shall  have  no  Vote,  unless  they  be  equally 
divided. 

[5]  The  Senate  shall  chuse  their  other  Officers,  and  also  a  Presi- 
dent pro  tempore,  in  the  Absence  of  the  Vice  President,  or  when 
he  shall  exercise  the  Office  of  President  of  the  United  States. 

[6]  The  Senate  shall  have  the  sole  Power  to  try  all  Impeach- 
ments. When  sitting  for  that  Purpose,  they  shall  be  on  Oath  or 
Affirmation.     When  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  tried, 


APPENDIX  385 

the  Chief  Justice  shall  preside :  And  no  Person  shall  be  convicted 
without  the  Concurrence  of  two  thirds  of  the  Members  present. 

[7]  Judgment  in  Cases  of  Impeachment  shall  not  extend  further  Judgment 
than  to  removal  from  Office,  and  disqualification  to  hold  and  enjoy  1°  <^*^®J^*** 
any  Office  of  honor,  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United  States :  but  ment. 
the  Party  convicted  shall  nevertheless  be  liable  and  subject  to 
Indictment,  Trial,  Judgment  and  Punishment,  according  to  Law. 

Section  4.  [1]  The  Times,  Places  and  Manner  of  holding  Elec-  Both 
tions  for  Senators  and  Representatives,  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  j?*^^*^*- 
State  by  the  Legislature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  places' and 
time  by  Law  make  or  alter  such  Regulations,  except  as  to  the  method  of 
Places  of  chusing  Senators.  electing 

[2]  The  Congress  shall  assemble  at  least  once  in  every  Year,  and  ^?^  ^^^' 
such  Meeting  shall  be  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  unless  they  meeting, 
shall  by  Law  appoint  a  different  Day. 

Section  5.  [1]  Each  House  shall  be  the  Judge  of  the  Elections,  Member- 
Returns  and  Qualifications  of  its  own  Members,  and  a  Majority  of  f  ^P  regu- 
each  shall  constitute  a  Quorum  to  do  Business  ;  but  a  smaller  Num-  Quorum, 
ber  may  adjourn  from  day  to  day,  and  may  be  authorized  to  compel 
the  attendance  of  absent  Members,  in  such  Manner,  and  under 
such  Penalties  as  each  House  may  provide. 

[2]  Each  House  .may  determine  the  Rules  of  its  Proceedings,  Rules  of 
punish  its  Members  for  disorderly  Behaviour,  and,  with  the  Con-  ®^^h 
currence  of  two  thirds,  expel  a  Member. 

[3]  Each  House  shall  keep  a  Journal  of  its  Proceedings,  and  Journals, 
from  time  to  time  publish  the  same,  excepting  such  Parts  as  may 
in  their  Judgment  require  Secrecy;  and  the  Yeas  and  Nays  of  the 
Members  of  either  House  on  any  question  shall,  at  the  Desire  of 
one  fifth  of  those  Present,  be  entered  on  the  Journal. 

[4]  Neither  House,  during  the  Session  of  Congress,  shall,  without  Special 
the  Consent  of  the  other,  adjourn  for  more  than  three  days,  nor  to  adjourn- 
any  other  Place  than  that  in  which  the  two  Houses  shall  be  sitting. 

Section  6.  [1]  The  Senators  and  Representatives  shall  receive  a  Members. 
Compensation  for  their  Services,  to  be  ascertained  by  law,  and  paid  Compen- 
out  of  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States.     They  shall  in  all  Cases,   sation  and 

'nriviiGffGS 

except  Treason,  Felony,  and  Breach  of  the  Peace,  be  privileged  ^f  ^0^- 
from  Arrest  during  their  Attendance  at  the  Session  of  their  respec-  ters. 
tive  Houses,  and  in  going  to  and  returning  from  the  same ;  and  for 


386 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Disabili- 
ties of 
members. 


Bills  and 
resolu- 
tions. 
Revenue 
bills. 
Veto  of 
President 
on  bills. 


any  Speech  or  Debate  in  either  House,  they  shall  not  be  questioned 
in  any  other  Place. 

[2]  No  Senator  or  Representative  shall,  during  the  Time  for 
which  he  was  elected,  be  appointed  to  any  civil  Office  under  the 
Authority  of  the  United  States,  which  shall  have  been  created,  or 
the  Emoluments  whereof  shall  have  been  encreased  during  such 
time ;  and  no  Person  holding  any  Office  under  the  United  States, 
shall  be  a  Member  of  either  House  during  his  Continuance  in  Office. 

Section  7.  [1]  All  Bills  for  raising  Revenue  shall  originate  in 
the  House  of  Representatives;  but  the  Senate  may  propose  or 
concur  with  Amendments  as  on  other  Bills. 

[2]  Every  Bill  which  shall  have  passed  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives and  the  Senate,  shall,  before  it  become  a  Law,  be  presented 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States ;  If  he  approve  he  shall  sign 
it,  but  if  not  he  shall  return  it,  with  his  Objections  to  that  House 
in  which  it  shall  have  originated,  who  shall  enter  the  Objections  at 
large  on  their  Journal,  and  proceed  to  reconsider  it.  If  after  such 
Reconsideration  two  thirds  of  that  House  shall  agree  to  pass  the 
Bill,  it  shall  be  sent,  together  with  the  Objections,  to  the  other 
House,  by  which  it  shall  likewise  be  reconsidered,  and  if  approved 
by  two  thirds  of  that  House,  it  shall  become  a  Law.  But  in  all 
such  Cases  the  Votes  of  both  Houses  shall  be  determined  by  Yeas 
and  Nays,  and  the  Names  of  the  Persons  voting  for  and  against 
the  Bill  shall  be  entered  on  the  Journal  of  each  House  respectively. 
If  any  Bill  shall  not  be  returned  by  the  President  within  ten  Days 
(Sundays  excepted)  after  it  shall  have  been  presented  to  him,  the 
Same  shall  be  a  Law,  in  like  Manner  as  if  he  had  signed  it,  unless 
the  Congress  by  their  Adjournment  prevent  its  Return,  in  which 
Case  it  shall  not  be  a  Law. 

[3]  Every  Order,  Resolution,  or  Vote  to  which  the  Concurrence 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  may  be  necessary 
(except  on  a  question  of  Adjournment)  shall  be  presented  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  before  the  Same  shall  take 
Effect,  shall  be  approved  by  him,  or  being  disapproved  by  him, 
shall  be  repassed  by  two  thirds  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, according  to  the  Rules  and  Limitations  prescribed  in 
the  Case  of  a  Bill. 

Powers  of       Section  8.    The  Congress  shall  have  Power  [1]    To  lay  and 
Congress,    collect  Taxes,  Duties,  Imposts  and  Excises,  to  pay  the  Debts  and 


Veto  on 
resolu- 
tions. 


APPENDIX 


387 


provide  for  the  common  Defence  and  general  Welfare  of  the 
United  States;  but  all  duties,  Imposts  and  Excises  shall  be 
uniform  throughout  the  United  States; 

[2]    To  borrow  Money  on  the  credit  of  the  United  States; 

[3]  To  regulate  Commerce  with  foreign  Nations,  and  among 
the  several  States,  and  with  the  Indian  Tribes; 

[4]  To  establish  an  uniform  Rule  of  Naturalization,  and 
uniform  Laws  on  the  subject  of  Bankruptcies  throughout  the 
United  States; 

,  [5]   To  coin  Money,  regulate  the  Value  thereof,  and  of  foreign 
Coin,*and  fix  the  Standard  of  Weights  and  Measures; 

[6]  To  provide  for  the  Punishment  of  counterfeiting  the 
Securities  and  current  Coin  of  the  United  States; 

[7]    To  establish  Post  Offices  and  post  Roads; 

[8]  To  promote  the  Progress  of  Science  and  useful  Arts  by 
securing  for  limited  Times  to  Authors  and  Inventors  the  exclusive 
Right  to  their  respective  Writings  and  Discoveries ; 

[9]    To  constitute  Tribunals  inferior  to  the  supreme  Court; 

[10]  To  define  and  punish  Piracies  and  Felonies  committed  on 
the  high  Seas,  and  Offences  against  the  Law  of  Nations; 

[11]  To  declare  War,  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal, 
and  make  Rules  concerning  Captures  on  Land  and  Water; 

[12]  To  raise  and  support  Armies,  but  no  Appropriation  of 
Money  to  that  Use  shall  be  for  a  longer  Term  than  two  Years; 

[13]    To  provide  and  maintain  a  Navy; 

[14]  To  make  Rules  for  the  Government  and  Regulation  of 
the  land  and  naval  Forces; 

[15]  To  provide  for  calling  forth  the  Militia  to  execute  the 
Laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  Insurrections  and  repel  Invasions ; 

[16]  To  provide  for  organizing,  arming,  and  disciplining,  the 
Militia,  and  for  governing  such  Part  of  them  as  may  be  employed 
in  the  Service  of  the  United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respec- 
tively, the  Appointment  of  the  Officers,  and  the  Authority  of 
training  the  Militia  according  to  the  discipline  prescribed  by 
Congi-ess. 

[17]  To  exercise  exclusive  Legislation  in  all  Cases  whatsoever, 
over  such  District  (not  exceeding  ten  Miles  square)  as  may,  by 
Cession  of  particular  States,  and  the  Acceptance  of  Congress  become 
the  Seat  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  to  exercise 
like  Authority  over  all  Places  purchased  by  the  Consent  of  the 


Taxation. 

Borrow- 
ing. 

Regulat- 
ing 

commerce. 
Natural- 
ization 
and  bank- 
ruptcy. 
Coins, 
weights, 
and 

measures. 
Counter- 
feiting. 
Post 
offices. 
Patents 
and  copy- 
rights. 
Inferior 
courts. 
Piracies. 
War. 
Army. 


Navy. 
Land  and 
naval 
forces. 
Militia,  in 
service. 
Militia, 
organiza- 
tion 


Seat  of 
govern- 
ment, and 
stations. 


388 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Supple- 
mentary 
legisla- 
tion. 


Legislature  of  the  State  in  which  the  Same  shall  be,  for  the  Ereo 
tion  of  Forts,  Magazines,  Arsenals,  dock- Yards,  and  other  needful 
Buildings ;  —  And 

[18]  To  make  all  Laws  which  shall  be  necessary  and  proper  for 
carrying  into  Execution  the  foregoing  Powers,  and  all  other  Pow- 
ers vested  by  this  Constitution  in  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  or  in  any  Department  or  Officer  thereof. 


Limita- 
tions  on 
powers  of 
Congress. 

Slave 
trade. 

Habeas 
corpus. 
Bills  of 
attainder 
and  ex 
post  facto 
laws. 
Direct  tax. 


Tax  on 
exports. 

Uniform 
commer- 
cial regu- 
lations. 

Finance. 


Titles  of 
nobility 
and 
presents. 


Limita- 
tions on 
powers  of 
States, 


Section  9.  [1]  The  Migration  or  Importation  of  such  Persons 
as  any  of  the  States  now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit, 
shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress  prior  to  the  Year  one 
thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight,  but  a  Tax  or  duty  may  be 
imposed  on  such  Importation,  not  exceeding  ten  dollars  for  each 
Person. 

[2]  The  Privilege  of  the  Writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  shall  not  be 
suspended,  unless  when  in  Cases  of  Rebellion  or  Invasion  the 
public  Safety  may  require  it. 

[3]  No    Bill    of   Attainder  or  ex   post  facto    Law  shall    be 


[4]  No  Capitation,  or  other  direct,  tax  shall  be  laid,  unless  in 
Proportion  to  the  Census  or  Enumeration  hereinbefore  directed  to 
be  taken. 

[5]  No  Tax  or  Duty  shall  be  laid  on  Articles  exported  from  any 
State. 

[6]  No  Preference  shall  be  given  by  any  Regulation  of  Com- 
merce or  Revenue  to  the  Ports  of  one  State  over  those  of  another : 
nor  shall  Vessels  bound  to,  or  from,  one  State,  be  obliged  to  enter, 
clear,  or  pay  Duties  in  another. 

[7]  No  money  shall  be  drawn  from  the  Treasury,  but  in  Conse- 
quence of  Appropriations  made  by  Law ;  and  a  regular  Statement 
and  Account  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  all  public  Money 
shall  be  published  from  time  to  time. 

[8]  No  title  of  Nobility  shall  be  granted  by  the  United  States : 
And  no  Person  holding  any  Office  of  Profit  or  Trust  under  them, 
shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  accept  of  any  present. 
Emolument,  Office,  or  Title,  of  any  kind  whatever,  from  any  King, 
Prince,  or  foreign  State. 

Section  10.  [1]  No  State  shall  enter  into  any  Treaty,  Alliance, 
or  Confederation  J  grant  Letters  of  Marque  and  Reprisal:   coId 


APPENDIX  389 

Money;  emit  Bills  of  Credit,  make  any  Thing  but  gold  and  silver  Specific 

Coin  a  Tender  in  Payment  of  Debts ;  pass  any  Bill  of  Attainder,  prohibi- 

ex  post  facto  Law,  or  Law  impairing  the  obligation  of  Contracts,  *^®°®* 
or  grant  any  Title  of  Nobility. 

[2]  No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  the  Congress,  lay  any  Limita- 

Imposts  or  Duties  on  Imports  or  Exports,  except  what  may  be  tionson 

absolutely  necessary  for  executing  it's  inspection  Laws :  and  the  ^"*P^^^* 
net  Produce  of  all   Duties  and   Imposts,  laid  by  any  State  on 
Imports  or  Exports,  shall  be  for  the  Use  of  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States;  and  all  such  Laws  shall  be  subject  to  the  Revision 
and  Controul  of  the  Congress. 

[3]  No  State  shall,  without  the  Consent  of  Congress,  lay  any  Prohibi- 
Duty  of  tonnage,  keep  Troops,  or  Ships  of  War  in  time  of  Peace,  tions  re- 
enter into  any  Agreement  or  Compact  with  another  State,  or  with  °ipy^^^^ 

i!      •       T.  .     ^xT  T  .     n     .        1    -.         .  with  con- 

a  foreign  rower,  or  engage  in  War,  unless  actually  invaded,  or  in  gent  of 

such  imminent  Danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay.  Congress. 

Article.  II. 

Section  1.    [1]  The  executive  Power  shall  be  vested  in  a  Presi-  Presi- 
dent  of  the  United  States  of  America.     He  shall  hold  his  Office  ^=^^- 
during  the  Term  of  four  Years,  and,  together  with  the  Vice  Presi-  Presiden- 
dent,  chosen  for  the  same  term,  be  elected,  as  follows :  tial  elec- 

[2]  Each  State  shall  appoint,  in  such  Manner  as  the  Legislature  tors  and 
thereof  may  direct,  a  Number  of  Electors,  equal  to  the  whole  Num-  ™®*  ?    ® 
ber  of  Senators  and  Representatives  to  which  the  State  may  be   president 
entitled  in  the  Congress:   but  no  Senator  or  Representative,  or 
Person  holding  an  Office  of  Trust  or  Profit  under  the  United  States, 
shall  be  appointed  an  Elector.     [The  electors  shall  meet  in  their  (Part  in 
respective  States,  and  vote  by  ballot  for  two  Persons,  of  whom  one  ^^^ackets 
at  least  shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  State  with  them-  g^ded  by 
selves.    And  they  shall  make  a  List  of  all  the  Persons  voted  for,   XII 
and  of  the  Number  of  Votes  for  each ;  which  List  they  shall  sign   amend- 
and  certify,  and  transmit  sealed  to  the  Seat  of  the  Government  of  '' 

the  United  States,  directed  to  the  President  of  the  Senate.  The 
President  of  the  Senate  shall,  in  the  Presence  of  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,  open  all  the  Certificates,  and  the  Votes 
shall  then  be  counted.  The  Person  having  the  greatest  Number  of 
Votes  shall  be  the  President,  if  such  Number  be  a  Majority  of  the 
whole  Number  of  Electors  appointed ;  and  if  there  be  more  than 


390 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Dates  of 
elections. 


Qualifica- 
tions, citi- 
zenship, 
age,  and 
residence. 


Presiden- 
tial suc- 
cession. 


Compensa- 
tion. 


Oath  of 
office. 


one  who  have  such  Majority,  and  have  an  equal  Number  of  Votes, 
then  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  immediately  chuse  by 
Ballot  one  of  them  for  President ;  and  if  no  Person  have  a  Major- 
ity, then  from  the  five  highest  on  the  List  the  said  House  shall  in 
like  Manner  chuse  the  President.  But  in  chusing  the  President, 
the  Votes  shall  be  taken  by  Slates,  the  Representation  from  each 
State  having  one  Vote ;  A  quorum  for  this  Purpose  shall  consist 
of  a  Member  or  Members  from  two-thirds  of  the  States,  and  a 
Majority  of  all  the  Staces  shall  be  necessary  to  a  Choice.  In  every 
Case,  after  the  Choice  of  the  President,  the  Person  having  the 
greatest  Number  of  Votes  of  the  Electors  shall  be  the  Vice  Presi- 
dent. But  if  there  should  remain  two  or  more  who  have  equal  Votes, 
the  Senate  shall  chuse  from  them  by  Ballot  the  Vice  President.] 

[3]  The  Congress  may  determine  the  Time  of  chusing  the  Elec- 
tors, and  the  Day  on  which  they  shall  give  their  Votes;  which  Day 
shall  be  the  same  throughout  the  United  States. 

[4]  No  Person  except  a  natural  born  Citizen,  or  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  at  the  time  of  the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution, 
shall  be  eligible  to  the  Office  of  President ;  neither  shall  any  Per- 
son be  eligible  to  that  Office  who  shall  not  have  attained  to  the 
Age  of  thirty  five  Years,  and  been  fourteen  Years  a  Resident 
within  the  United  States. 

[5]  In  Case  of  the  Removal  of  the  President  from  Office,  or 
of  his  Death,  Resignation,  or  Inability  to  discharge  the  Powers 
and  Duties  of  the  said  Office,  the  same  shall  devolve  on  the  Vice 
President,  and  the  Congress  may  by  Law  provide  for  the  Case  of 
Removal,  Death,  Resignation,  or  Inability,  both  of  the  President 
and  Vice  President,  declaring  what  Officer  shall  then  act  as  Presi- 
dent, and  such  Officer  shall  act  accordingly,  until  the  Disability 
be  removed,  or  a  President  shall  be  elected. 

[6]  The  President  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive  for  his  Ser- 
vices, a  Compensation,  which  shall  neither  be  encreased  nor  dimin- 
ished during  the  Period  for  which  he  shall  have  been  elected,  and 
he  shall  not  receive  within  that  Period  any  other  Emolument  from 
the  United  States,  or  any  of  them. 

[7]  Before  he  enter  on  the  Execution  of  his  Office,  he  shall  take 
the  following  Oath  or  Affirmation:  —  "I  do  solemnly  swear  (or 
affirm)  that  I  will  faithfully  execute  the  Office  of  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  will  to  the  best  of  my  Ability,  preserve,  protect 
and  defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 


APPENDIX  391 

Section  2.    [1]    The  President  shall  be  Commander  in  Chief  of    Towers  of 
the  Army  and  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  of  the  Militia  of  the   President, 
several  States,  when  called  into  the  actual  Service  of  the  United 
States ;  he  may  require  the  Opinion,  in  writing,  of  the  principal  Military, 
Officer  in  each  of  the  executive  Departments,  upon  any  Subject  super- 
relating  to  the  Duties  of  their  respective  Offices,  and  he  shall  have  judicial. 
Power  to  grant  Reprieves  and  Pardons  for  Offences  against  the 
United  States,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment. 

[2]    He  shall  have  Power,  by  and  with  the  Advice  and  Consent  In  treaties 
of  the  Senate,  to  make  Treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of  the  Sena-  *°^  \^ 
tors  present  concur ;  and  he  shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  ments. 
Advice  and  Consent  of   the  Senate,  shall  appoint  Ambassadors, 
other  public  Ministers  and  Consuls,  Judges  of  the  supreme  Court, 
and  all  other  Officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  Appointments 
are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be  estab- 
lished by  Law:  but  the  Congress  may  by  Law  vest  the  Appointment 
of  such  inferior  Officers,  as  they  think  proper,  in  the  President 
alone,  in  the  Courts  of  Law,  or  in  the  Heads  of  Departments. 

[3]    The  President  shall  have  Power  to  fill  up  all  Vacancies  that  Tempo- 
may  happen  during  the  Recess  of  the  Senate,  by  granting  Com-   '^^y. 
missions  which  shall  expire  at  the  End  of  their  next  Session.  ments. 

Section  3.    He  shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  Legisla- 

Information  of  the  State  of  the  Union,  and  recommend  to  their  *^^® 

powers. 
Consideration  such   Measures   as   he   shall  judge  necessary  and 

expedient;    he  may,  on   extraordinary   Occasions,  convene  both 

Houses,  or  either  of  them,  and  in  Case  of  Disagreement  between 

them,  with  Respect  to  the  Time  of  Adjournment,  he  may  adjourn 

them  to  such  Time  as  he  shall  think  proper;   he  shall  receive 

Ambassadors  and  other  public  Ministers ;  he  shall  take  Care  that 

the  Laws  be  faithfully  executed,  and  shall  Commission  all  the 

Officers  of  the  United  States. 


Section  4.    The  President,  Vice  President  and  all  civil  Officers  Liability 
of  the  United  States,  shall  be  removed  from  Office  on  Impeach-  ^^ 
ment  for,  and  Conviction  of,  Treason,  Bribery,  or  other  high 
Crimes  and  Misdemeanors. 


impeach- 
ment. 


Article.  III. 

JUDICI- 

Section  1.    The  judicial  Power  of  the  United  States,  shall  be  art. 
vested  in  one  supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  Courts  as  the  Courts. 


392 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Judges : 
term  and 
compen- 
sation. 


Jurisdic- 
tion. 


Original 
and 

appellate 
jurisdic- 
tion of 
Supreme 
Court. 

Jury  trial. 
Place  of 
trial. 


Treason : 
definition, 


punish- 
ment. 


Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish.  The, 
Judges,  both  of  the  supreme  and  inferior  Courts,  shall  hold  their 
OflBces  during  good  Behaviour,  and  shall,  at  stated  Times,  receive 
for  their  Services,  a  Compensation,  which  shall  not  be  diminished 
during  their  Continuance  in  Office. 

Section  2.  [1]  The  judicial  Power  shall  extend  to  all  Cases,  in 
Law  and  Equity,  arising  under  this  Constitution,  the  Laws  of  the 
United  States,  and  Treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made,  under 
their  Authority ;  —  to  all  cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  pub- 
lic Ministers  and  Consuls;  —  to  all  cases  of  admiralty  and  maritime 
Jurisdiction ;  —  to  Controversies  to  which  the  United  States  shall 
be  a  party ;  —  to  controversies  between  two  or  more  States ;  — {J)e- 
tween  a  State  and  Citizens  of  another  State^, — between  Citizens 
of  different  States  —  between  Citizens  of  the  same  State  claiming 
Lands  under  Grants  of  different  States,  and  between  a  State,  or 
the  Citizens  thereof,  and  foreign  States,  Citizens  or  subjects. 

[2]  In  aU  Cases  affecting  Ambassadors,  other  public  Ministers 
and  Consuls,  and  those  in  which  a  State  shall  be  Party,  the 
supreme  Court  shall  have  original  Jurisdiction.  In  all  the  other 
Cases  before  mentioned,  the  supreme  Court  shall  have  appellate 
Jurisdiction,  both  as  to  Law  and  Fact,  with  such  Exceptions,  and 
under  such  Regulations  as  the  Congress  shall  make. 

[3]  The  Trial  of  all  Crimes,  except  in  Cases  of  Impeachment, 
shall  be  by  Jury ;  and  such  Trial  shall  be  held  in  the  State  where 
the  said  Crimes  shall  have  been  committed ;  but  when  not  com- 
mitted within  any  State,  the  Trial  shall  be  at  such  Place  or 
Places  as  the  Congress  may  by  Law  have  directed. 

Section  3.  [1]  Treason  against  the  United  States,  shall  con- 
sist only  in  levying  War  against  them,  or  in  adhering  to  their 
Enemies,  giving  them  Aid  and  Comfort.  No  Person  shall  be 
convicted  of  Treason  unless  on  the  Testimony  of  two  Witnesses 
to  the  same  overt  Act,  or  on  Confession  in  open  Court. 

[2]  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  declare  the  Punishment  of 
Treason, but  no  Attainder  of  Treason  shall  work  Corruption  of  Blood, 
or  Forfeiture  except  during  the  Life  of  the  Person  attainted. 


Article.  IV. 
Nation 
AND  Section  1.    Full  Faith  and  Credit  shall  be  given  in  each  State 

Status.       to  the  public  Acts,  Records,  and  Judicial  Proceedings  of  every 


APPENDIX 


393 


other  State.    And  the  Congress  may  by  general  Laws  prescribe   Interstate 
the  Manner  in  which  such  Acts,  Records  and  Proceedings  shall  be   comity, 
proved,  and  the  Effect  thereof. 

Section  2.  [1]  The  Gitizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled  to 
all  Privileges  and  Immunities  of  Citizens  in  the  several  States. 

[2]  A  Person  charged  in  any  State  with  Treason,  Felony  or 
other  Crime,  who  shall  flee  from  Justice,  and  be  found  in  another 
State,  shall  on  Demand  of  the  executive  Authority  of  the  State 
from  which  he  fled,  be  delivered  up,  to  be  removed  to  the  State 
having  Jurisdiction  of  the  Crime. 

[3]  No  Person  held  to  Service  or  Labour  in  one  State,  under 
the  Laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  Consequence  of 
any  Law  or  Regulation  therein,  be  discharged  from  such  Service  or 
Labour,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  Claim  of  the  Party  to  whom 
such  Service  or  Labour  may  be  due. 

Section  3.  [1]  New  States  may  be  admitted  by  the  Congress 
into  this  Union;  but  no  new  State  shall  be  formed  or  erected 
within  the  Jurisdiction  of  any  other  State;  nor  any  State  be 
formed  by  the  Junction  of  two  or  more  States,  or  Parts  of  States, 
without  the  Consent  of  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  concerned  as 
weU  as  of  the  Congress. 

[2]  The  Congress  shall  have  Power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all 
needful  Rules  and  Regulations  respecting  the  Territory  or  other 
Property  belonging  to  the  United  States ;  and  nothing  in  this  Con- 
stitution shall  be  so  construed  as  to  Prejudice  any  Claims  of  the 
United  States,  or  of  any  particular  State. 

Section  4.  The  United  States  shall  guarantee  to  every  State  in 
this  Union  a  Republican  Form  of  Government,  and  shall  protect 
each  of  them  against  Invasion ;  and  on  Application  of  the  Legis- 
lature, or  of  the  Executive  (when  the  Legislature  cannot  be  con- 
vened) against  domestic  Violence. 


Interstate 
citizen- 
ship. 
Extradi- 
tioD  of 
criminals. 


Fugitive 
slaves. 


Admission 
of  new 
States. 


Govern- 
ment of 
national 
territory. 


Protection 
of  States. 


Article.  V. 

The  Congress,  whenever  two  thirds  of  both  Houses  shall  deem  it  ^^^j. 
necessary,  shall  propose  Amendments  to  this  Constitution,  or,  on  Constitu- 
the  Application  of  the  Legislatures  of  two  thirds  of  the  several  tion. 
States,  shall  call  a  Convention  for  proposing  Amendments,  which, 
in  either  Case^  shall  be  valid  to  all  Intents  and  Purposes  as  Part  of 


394 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


this  Constitution,  when  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of  three  fourths 
of  the  several  States,  or  by  Conventions  in  three  fourths  thereof, 
as  the  one  or  the  other  Mode  of  Ratification  may  be  proposed  by 
the  Congress ;  Provided  that  no  Amendment  which  may  be  made 
prior  to  the  Year  One  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight  shall  in 
any  Manner  affect  the  first  and  fourth  Clauses  in  the  Ninth  Sec- 
tion of  the  first  Article ;  and  that  no  State,  without  its  Consent, 
shall  be  deprived  of  its  equal  Suffrage  in  the  Senate. 


MlSCBIr- 

LANEOUS. 

Preexist- 
ing nation- 
al debt. 
Suprem- 
acy of 
Constitu- 
tion, 
treaties, 
and  na- 
tional law. 

Oaths  of 
national 
and  state 
officials. 


Article.  VL 

[1]  All  Debts  contracted  and  Engagements  entered  into,  before 
the  Adoption  of  this  Constitution,  shall  be  as  valid  against  the 
United  States  under  this  Constitution,  as  under  the  Confederation. 

[2]  This  Constitution,  and  the  Laws  of  the  United  States  which 
shall  be  made  in  Pursuance  thereof ;  and  all  Treaties  made,  or 
which  shall  be  made,  under  the  Authority  of  the  United  States, 
shall  be  the  supreme  Law  of  the  Land ;  and  the  Judges  in  every 
State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any  Thing  in  the  Constitution  or 
Laws  of  any  State  to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding. 

[3]  The  Senators  and  Representatives  before  mentioned,  and 
the  Members  of  the  several  State  Legislatures,  and  all  executive 
and  judicial  Officers,  both  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several 
States,  shall  be  bound  by  Oath  or  Affirmation,  to  support  this  Con- 
stitution; but  no  religious  Test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  Quali- 
fication to  any  Office  or  public  Trust  under  the  United  States. 


Article.  VII. 

Ratifica-       The  Ratification  of  the  Conventions  of  nine  States,  shall  be  suffi- 
TioN.  cient  for  the  Establishment  of  this  Constitution  between  the  States 

so  ratifying  the  Same. 

Done  in  Convention  by  the  Unanimous  Consent  of  the  States 
present  the  Seventeenth  Day  of  September  in  the  Year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  Eighty  seven  and  of  the 
Independence  of  the  United  States  of  America  the  Twelfth 
In  Witness  whereof  We  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  Names, 

G"  Washington- 
Presidt.  and  Deputy  from  Virginia 
[and  thirty  eight  members  from  all  the  States  except  Rhode  Island.] 


APPENDIX  395 


ARTICLES  IN  ADDITION  TO,  AND  AMENDMENT  OF, 
THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF 
AMERICA,  PROPOSED  BY  CONGRESS,  AND  RATIFIED . 
BY  THE  LEGISLATURES  OF  THE  SEVERAL  STATES 
PURSUANT  TO  THE  FIFTH  ARTICLE  OF  THE  ORIGI- 
NAL CONSTITUTION. 

[Article  I*]  P^hibi- 

Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  establishment  of  reli-  Jj®°®  ®° 

gion,  or  prohibiting  the  free  exercise  thereof ;  or  abridging  the  res^ctinfi 

freedom  of  speech,  or  of  the  press ;   or  the  right  of  the  people  religion, 

peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the  Government  for  a  redress  speech, 

of  grievances.  f  ° 

the  press. 

[Article  II  ^J 

A  well  regulated  Militia,  being  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  Right  to 
free  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and  bear  Arms,  shall  not  bear  arms, 
be  infringed. 

[Article  III^] 

No  Soldier  shall,  in  time  of  peace  be  quartered  in  any  house,   Quarter- 
without  the  consent  of  the  Owner,  nor  in  time  of  war,  but  in  a  ing  of 
manner  to  be  prescribed  by  law.  soldiers. 

[Article  IV*] 

The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses.   Right  of 
papers,  and  effects,  against  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,   search, 
shall  not  be  violated,  and  no  Warrants  shall  issue,  but  upon 
probable  cause,  supported  by  Oath  or  affirmation,  and  particularly 
describing  the  place  to  be  searched,  and  the  persons  or  things  to 
be  seized. 

[Article  V*] 

No  person  shall  be  held  to  answer  for  a  capital,  or  otherwise  Protection 
infamous  crime,  unless  on  a  presentment  or  indictment  of  a  Grand  of  accused 

in  criminal 

1  First  ten  amendments  proposed  by  Congress,  Sept.  25,  1789.     Pro-  cases, 
claimed  to  be  in  force  Dec.  16, 1791. 


396 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


Rights  of 
accused 
regarding 
trial. 


Jury,  except  in  cases  arising  in  the  land  or  naval  forces,  or  in  the 
Militia,  when  in  actual  service  in  time  of  War  or  public  danger; 
nor  shall  any  person  be  subject  for  the  same  offence  to  be  twice 
put  in  jeopardy  of  life  or  limb;  nor  shall  be  compelled  in  any 
Criminal  Case  to  be  a  witness  against  himself,  nor  be  deprived  of 
life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law;  nor  shall 
private  property  be  taken  for  public  use,  without  just  compensa- 
tion. 

[Article  VI*] 

In  all  criminal  prosecutions,  the  accused  shall  enjoy  the  right  to 
a  speedy  and  public  trial,  by  an  impartial  jury  of  the  State  and 
district  wherein  the  crime  shall  have  been  committed,  which  dis- 
trict shall  have  been  previously  ascertained  by  law,  and  to  be 
informed  of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusation;  to  be  con- 
fronted with  the  witnesses  against  him;  to  have  compulsory 
process  for  obtaining  Witnesses  in  his  favor,  and  to  have  the 
Assistance  of  Counsel  for  his  defence. 


Jury  trial 
in  law- 
suits. 


Bail  and 
punish- 
ment. 


Unenu- 
merated 
rights. 


Undelega- 
ted pow- 


[Article  VII*] 

In  suits  at  common  law,  where  the  value  in  controversy  shall 
exceed  twenty  dollars,  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  shall  be  preserved, 
and  no  fact  tried  by  a  jury  shall  be  otherwise  re-examined  in  any 
Court  of  the  United  States,  than  according  to  the  rules  of  the 
common  law. 

[Article  VIII  *] 

Excessive  bail  shall  not  be  required,  nor  excessive  fines  imposed^ 
nor  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  inflicted. 

[Article  IX*] 

The  enumeration  in  the  Constitution,  of  certain  rights,  shall 
not  be  construed  to  deny  or  disparage  others  retained  by  the 
people. 

[Article  X*] 

The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitu- 
tion, nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States 
respectively,  or  to  the  people. 

1  First  ten  amendments  proposed  by  Congress,  Sept.  26,  1789.  !•«►• 
claimed  to  be  in  force  Dec.  15, 1791. 


APPENDIX  397 


Article  XI  ^ 

The  Judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  not  he  construed  Exemp- 
to  extend  to  any  suit  in  law  or  equity,  commenced  or  prosecuted  tion  of 
against  one  of  the  United  States  by  Citizens  of  another  State,  or  ^***®^  . 
by  Citizens  or  Subjects  of  any  Foreign  State.  '°°^  ^^  ' 

Article  XII 

The  Electors  shall  meet  in  their  respective  states,  and  vote  by  New 
ballot  for  President  and  Vice-President,  one  of  whom,  at  least,  method  of 
shall  not  be  an  inhabitant  of  the  same  state  with  themselves;  they  electing 
shall  name  in  their  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  President,  and     '^^^  ^^** 
in  distinct  ballots  the  person  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  thev   ^^?  ^^^^^' 
shall  make  distinct  lists  of  all  persons  voted  for  as  President,  and  ^f  ^j,t.  II 
of  all  persons  voted  for  as  Vice-President,  and  of  the  number  of  Sec.  I, 
votes  for  each,  which  lists  they  shall  sign  and  certify,  and  transmit  ^^'  ^O 
sealed  to  the  seat  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  directed   (Proposed 
to  the  President  of  the  Senate;  — The  President  of  the  Senate  ^3  ^^' • 
shall,  in  presence  of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  open  glared  in 
all  the  certificates  and  the  votes  shall  then  be  counted;  —  The  force  Sept 
person  having  the  greatest  number  of  votes  for  President,  shall  be  ^>  1804.) 
the  President,  if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number 
of  Electors  appointed ;  and  if  no  person  have  such  majority,  then 
from  the  persons  having  the  highest  numbers  not  exceeding  three 
on  the  list  of  those  voted  for  as  President,  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives shall  choose  immediately,  by  ballot,  the  President.     But  in 
choosing  the  President,  the  votes  shall  be  taken  by  states,  the  repre- 
sentation from  each  state  having  one  vote;  a  quorum  for  this 
purpose  shall  consist  of  a  member  or  members  from  two-thirds  of 
the  states,  and  a  majority  of  all  the  states  shall  be  necessary  to  a 
choice.    And  if  the  House  of  Representatives  shall  not  choose  a 
President  whenever  the  right  of  choice  shall  devolve  upon  them, 
before  the  fourth  day  of  March  next  following,  then  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent shall  act  as  President,  as  in  the  case  of  the  death  or  other 
constitutional  disability  of  the  President.     The  person  having  the 
greatest  number  of  votes  as  Vice-President,  shall  be  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent, if  such  number  be  a  majority  of  the  whole  number  of  Electors 
appointed,  and  if  no  person  have  a  majority,  then  from  the  two 

1  Proposed  September  5, 1794.    Declared  in  force  January  8,  1798. 


398 


THE  NEW   CIVICS 


liighest  numbers  on  the  list,  the  Senate  shall  choose  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent ;  a  quorum  for  the  purpose  shall  consist  of  two-thirds  of  the 
whole  number  of  Senators,  and  a  majority  of  the  whole  number 
shall  be  necessary  to  a  choice.  But  no  person  constitutionally 
ineligible  to  the  office  of  President  shall  be  eligible  to  that  of  Vice- 
President  of  the  United  States. 


Al)olition 
of  slavery. 
(Proposed 
Feb.  1, 
1865.     De- 
clared in 
force  Dec. 
18,  1865.) 

Citizens  of 
the  United 
States  — 
protection 
of.     (Pro- 
posed June 
16,  1866. 
Declared 
in  force 
July  28, 
1868.) 

New  basis 
of  repre- 
sentation 
in  Con- 


(Supersed- 
ing  part  of 
Art.  I,  sec. 
2,  cl.  3.) 


Article  XIII 

Section  1.  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except  as 
a  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly 
convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United  States,  or  any  place  sub- 
ject to  their  jurisdiction. 

Section  2.  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by 
appropriate  legislation. 

Article  XIV 

Section  1.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make 
or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immuni- 
ties of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive 
any  person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law; 
nor  deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protec- 
tion of  the  laws. 

Section  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the  several 
States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the  whole 
number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed. 
But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of  elec- 
tors for  President  and  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  Repre- 
sentatives in  Congress,  the  Executive  and  Judicial  officers  of  a 
State,  or  the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any 
of  the  male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being  twenty-one  years  of 
age,  and  citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged, 
except  for  participation  in  rebellion,  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of 
representation  therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which 
the  number  of  such  male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number 
of  male  citizens  twenty-one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

Section  3.  No  person  shall  be  a  Senator  or  Representative  in 
Congress,  or  elector  of  President  and  Vice  President,  or  hold  any 


APPENDIX 


399 


oflBce,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any   Disabili- 
State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of  Con-    ties  of  oflS.- 
gress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any   ^^^eed^in 
State  legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State,   rebellion, 
to  support  the   Constitution  of  the  United   States,   shall  have 
engaged  in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid 
or  comfort  to  the  enemies  thereof.     But  Congress  may  by  two- 
thirds  vote  of  each  House,  remove  such  disability. 

Section  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States,  Validity  of 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pen-  ^*'  ^®^** 
sions  and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  re- 
bellion, shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States 
nor  any  State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred 
in  aid  of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or 
any  claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave ;  but  all  such 
debts,  obligations  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

Section  5.   The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce,  by  appro- 
priate legislation,  the  provisions  of  this  article. 


Article  XV* 

Section  1.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  by  any 
State  on  account  of  race,  color  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

Section  2.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article 
by  appropriate  legislation. 


Voting 
rights  of 
citizens  of 
the  U.  S. 


Article  XVI* 

The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  lay  and  collect  taxes  on  in-   income 
comes,   from   whatever   source    derived,    without    apportionment    •'•*^' 
among  the  several  states,  and  without  regard  to  any  census  or 
enumeration. 

Article  XVII  ^ 

The  Senate  of  the  United  States  shall  be  composed  of  two  Sena-   Direct 
tors  from  each  State,  elected  by  the  people  thereof,  for  six  years ;    election  of 
and  each  Senator  shall  have  one  vote.     The  electors  in  each  State 


1  Proposed  February  27,  1869. 

2  Ratified  February  25,  1913. 


Declared  in  force  March  30,  1870. 
8  Ratified  May  31,  1913. 


400 


THE  NEW  CIVICS 


Method  of 
election. 

Tempo- 
rary ap- 
point- 
ments. 


shall  have  the  qualifications  requisite  for  electors  of  the  most 
numerous  branch  of  the  State  legislatures. 

When  vacancies  happen  in  the  representation  of  any  State  in 
the  Senate,  the  executive  authority  of  each  State  shall  issue  writs 
of  election  to  fill  such  vacancies :  Provided  that  the  legislature  of 
any  State  may  empower  the  executive  thereof  to  make  temporary 
appointments  until  the  people  fill  the  vacancies  by  election  as  the 
legislature  may  direct. 

This  amendment  shall  not  be  so  construed  as  to  affect  the  elec- 
tion or  term  of  any  Senator  chosen  before  it  becomes  valid  as  part 
of  the  Constitution. 


Article  XVIII  i 

Prohibition  Section  1.   After  one  year  from  the  ratification  of  this  article 

the  manufacture,  sale,  or  transportation  of  intoxicating  liquors 
within,  the  importation  thereof  into,  or  the  exportation  thereof 
from  the  United  States  and  all  territory  subject  to  the  jurisdiction 
thereof  for  beverage  purposes  is  hereby  prohibited. 

Section  2.  The  Congress  and  the  several  States  shall  have  con- 
current power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation. 

Section  3.  This  article  shall  be  inoperative  unless  it  shall  have 
been  ratified  as  an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  by  the  legisla- 
tures of  the  several  States,  as  provided  in  the  Constitution,  within 
seven  years  from  the  date  of  the  submission  hereof  to  the  States 
by  the  Congress. 

Article  XIX  ^ 

Woman  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  shall  not  be 

Suffrage  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  any  State  on  account  of 


Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  this  article  by  appropriate 
legislation. 

1  Ratified  January  16,  1919. 

2  Ratified  August  26,  1920. 


B.  AREA  AND  POPULATION  OF  THE  STATES 


State 

Became 

Member 

OF 

Area 
Square 

.Population 

Electoral 
Vote 

Union 

Miles 

1910 

1900 

1910 

1900 

Alabama     .     .     . 

1819 

51,998 

2,138,093 

1,828,697 

12 

II 

Arizona 

1912 

113,956 

204,354 

122,931 

3 

— 

Arkansas 

1836 

53,335 

1,574,449 

1,311,564 

9 

9 

California 

1850 

158,297 

--2,377,549 

1,485,053 

13 

^    10 

Colorado 

1876 

103,948 

799,024 

539,700 

6 

5 

Connecticul 

1788 

4,965 

1,114,756 

908,420 

7 

7 

Delaware 

1787 

2,370 

202,322 

184,735 

3 

3 

Florida  . 

1845 

58,666 

752,619 

528,542 

6 

S 

Georgia 

1788 

59,265 

2,609,121 

2,216,331 

14 

13 

Idaho     . 

1890 

83,888 

325,594 

161,772 

4 

3 

Illinois  . 

1818 

56,665 

5,638,591 

4,821,550 

29 

27 

Indiana 

1816 

36,354 

2,700,876 

2,5x6,462 

15 

IS 

Iowa 

1846 

56,147 

2,224,771 

2,231,853 

13 

13 

Kansas  . 

1861 

82,158 

1,690,949 

1,470,495 

10 

10 

Kentucky- 

1792 

40,598 

2,289,905 

2,147,174 

13 

13 

Louisiana 

1812 

48,506 

1,656,388 

1,381,625 

10 

9 

Maine    . 

1820 

33,040 

742,371 

694,466 

6 

6 

Maryland 

1788 

12,327 

1,295,346 

1,188,044 

8 

8 

Massachusetts 

1788 

8,266 

3,366,416 

2,805,346 

18 

16 

Michigan    . 

1837 

57,980 

2,8^10,173 

2,420,982 

15 

14 

Minnesota 

1858 

84,682 

2,075,708 

1,751,394 

12 

II 

Mississippi 

1817 

46,865 

1,797,114 

1,551,270 

10 

10 

Missouri     . 

1821 

69,420 

3^293,335 
376,053 

3,106,665 

18 

18 

Montana    . 

1889 

146,997 

243,329 

4 

3  -- 

Nebraska    . 

1867 

77,520 

1,192,214 

1,066,300 

8 

8-- 

Nevada 

1864 

110,690 

81,875 

42,335 

3 

3 

New  Hampshi 

re  . 

1788 

9,341 

430,572 

411,588 

4 

4 

New  Jersey 

1787 

8,224 

2,537,167 

1,883,669 

14 

12 

New  Mexico 

1912 

122,634 

327,301 

195,310 

3 

— 

New  York 

1788 

49,204 

9,113,614 

7,268,012 

45 

39 

North  Carolina    . 

1789 

52,426 

2,206,287 

1,893,810 

12 

12 

North  Dakota     . 

1889 

70,837 

577,056 

319,146 

5 

4 

Ohio      .... 

1803 

41,040 

4,767,121 

4,157,545 

24 

23 

Oklahoma  .     .     . 

1907 

70,057 

1,657,155 

790,319 

10 

7I 

Oregon  .... 

1859 

96,699 

672,765 

413,536 

5 

4 

Pennsylvania 

1787 

45,126 

7,665,111 

6,302,115 

38 

34 

Rhode  Island       . 

1790 

1,248 

542,610 

428,556 

5 

4 

South  Carolina    . 

1788 

30,989 

1,515,400 

1,340,316 

9 

9 

South  Dakota     . 

1889 

77,615 

583,888 

401,570 

S 

4 

Tennessee  .     .     . 

1796 

42,022 

2,184,789 

2,020,616 

12 

12 

Texas     .     . 

1845 

265,896 

3,896,542 

3,048,710 

20 

18 

Utah      .     . 

1896 

84,990 

373,351 

276,749 

4 

3 

Vermont     . 

1791 

9,564 

355,956 

343,641 

4 

4 

Virginia 

1788 

42,627 

2,061,612 

1,854,184 

12 

12 

Washington 

1889 

69,127 

1,141,990 

518,103 

7 

S 

West  Virginia 

1863 

24,170 

1,221,119 

958,800 

8 

7 

Wisconsin  . 

1848 

56,066 

2,333,860 

2,069,042 

13 

13 

Wyoming   . 

1890 

97,914 

145,^65 

92,531 

3 

3 

Total  States     . 

3,026,719 

91,641,197 

75,615,857 

531 

483 

*l 

5>07. 

4 

01 

. 

402  THE  NEW  CIVICS 


C.  SUMMARIES   ON  CITIZENSHIP  AND  GOVERN- 
MENT 

I.   FUNCTIONS  OF   GOVERNMENT. 

In  his  admirable  book  on  The  State,  Woodrow  Wilson  enumerates 
eight  "constituent"  or  essential  functions  of  government. 

(i)  The  keeping  of  order  and  providing  for  the  protection  of  persons 
and  property  from  violence  and  robbery. 

(2)  The  fixing  of  the  legal  relations  between  man  and  wife  and  between 
parents  and  children. 

(3)  The  regulation  of  the  holding,  transmission,  and  interchange  of 
property,  and  the  determination  of  its  liabilities  for  debt  or  for  crime. 

(4)  The  determination  of  contract  rights  between  individuals. 

(5)  The  definition  and  punishment  of  crime. 

(6)  The  administration  of  justice  in  civil  causes. 

(7)  The  determination  of  the  political  duties,  privileges,  and  relations 
of  citizens. 

(8)  Dealings  of  the  state  with  foreign  powers  :  the  preservation  of  the 
state  from  external  danger  or  encroachment  and  the  advancement  of 
its  international  interests. 

As  a  partial  list  of  these  optional  or  "ministrant"  functions,  Woodrow 
Wilson  gives  the  following : 

(i)  The  regulation  of  trade  and  industry.  Under  this  head  I  would 
include  the  coinage  of  money  and  the  establishment  of  standard  weights 
and  measures,  laws  against  forestalling  and  engrossing,  the  licensing  of 
trades,  etc.,  as  well  as  the  great  matters  of  tariffs,  navigation  laws,  and 
the  like. 

(2)  The  regulation  of  labor. 

(3)  The  maintenance  of  thoroughfares,  —  including  state  management 
of  railways  and  that  great  group  of  undertakings  which  we  embrace 
within  the  comprehensive  term  "Internal  Improvements." 

(4)  The  maintenance  of  postal  and  telegraph  systems,  which  is  very 
similar  in  principle  to  (3). 

(5)  The  manufacture  and  distribution  of  gas,  the  maintenance  of 
waterworks,  etc. 

(6)  .Sanitation,  including  the  regulation  of  trades  for  sanitary  purposes. 

(7)  Education. 

(8)  Care  of  the  poor  and  incapable. 

(9)  Care  and  cultivation  of  forests  and  like  matters,  such  as  the  stock- 
ing of  rivers  with  fish. 

(10)  Sumptuary  laws,  such  as  "prohibition"  laws,  for  example. 

—  Wilson,  The  State,  §§  1478,  1479. 


APPENDIX 


403 


n.  OLD  AND   NEW  INDIVIDUAL  RIGHTS 

New  Economic  and  Social  Rights 


The     Older     Constitu- 
tional Rights 


I.   Right    to    the    equal 
protection  of  the  laws. 


2.  The  right  of  persons 
accused  of  crime  to  be  safe- 
guarded in  criminal  trial 
procedure. 


3.  Freedom    of    speech, 
press,  and  religion. 


4.  No  person  shall  be  de- 
prived of  life  without  due 
process  of  law. 

5 .  Freedom  from  compul- 
sory quartering  of  soldiers 
in  time  of  peace;  freedom 
from  searches  and  seizures 
in  homes  and  dwellings. 

6.  No  person  shall  be  de- 
prived of  liberty  or  property 
without  due  process  of  law. 

7.  Right  to  bear  arms. 


1.  Equal  opportunities  for  all  in  the 
Open  Market : 

(a)  The  equal  use  of  public  facilities 
such  as  railways,  canals,  terminals,  ware- 
houses, wharves,  etc. 

(&)  Freedom  from  unfair  and  corrupt 
methods  of  business  competition,  —  fraud, 
misrepresentation,  combinations  to  de- 
stroy a  competitor,  exclusive  contracts  to 
stifle  competition,  etc. 

2.  Right  to  real  protection  against 
criminals.     Cheaper  and  quicker  justice. 

(a)  A  simplified,  less  technical  proced- 
ure in  both  civil  and  criminal  suits. 

(b)  A  more  complete,  ef&cient  and 
thorough  police  system  in  both  city  and 
country  districts. 

(c)  A  more  careful  sifting  of  the  chance 
offender  from  the  habitual  criminal. 

3.  The  freedom  of  the  consumer  from 
extortionate  and  oppressive  charges  in  all 
articles  of  common  use,  meats,  foods, 
drugs,  beverages,  shoes,  clothing,  coal, 
tobacco,  sugar,  oil,  express  and  transpor- 
tation charges. 

4.  No  person  shall  be  deprived  of  the 
opportunities  for  improvement,  education, 
andrecreation,  even  with  due  process  of  law. 

5.  Freedom  from  overcrowded,  unsani- 
tary houses,  factories,  and  stores;  right 
to  tenement  and  factory  inspection  and 
regulation. 

6.  Right  to  full  participation  in  eco- 
nomic progress  and  a  salary  or  wage  pay- 
ment that  will  support  a  reasonable 
standard  of  living. 

7.  Right  to  aesthetic  and  other  higher 
enjoyments  of  civilization. 


—  Young,  The  New  American  Government  and  Its  Work,  p.  498. 


404  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

D.   CIVIC   PROBLEMS » 

INTRODUCTION 

I.  Social  Organization 
General 

Social  structure 
Social  cooperation 
II.  SoaAL  Control 
Importance 
Forms 

III.  Social  Aims  and  Welfare 

Life  and  a  good  standard  of  living 
Social  ideals  and  standards 
Social  welfare  and  progress 

PART  I 

SOCIAL  PROBLEMS 

I.  School  Citizenship 

Preparation  for  life  in  the  school 
Forms  and  methods  of  self-government 
The  problem  of  self-direction  in  school 
n.  Poverty 

Standards  of  living 
Causes 
Remedies 
m.   Crime 

Causes 
Treatment 
Social  justice 

IV.  City  Congestion 

The  city  slums 
Housing  reform 
V.  Public  Health 
Past  and  present 
Sanitary  regulations 
Possibilities  of  the  future 

*  For  the  last  half  of  a  year  course  in  "  Social  Economics "  given  by  the 
author,  about  half  of  these  topics  are  required,  and  the  students  are  allowed  to 
select  others  which  they  wish  to  discuss.  These  students  have  had  at  least 
American  history  and  civics;  most  of  them  have  had  the  principles  of  elementary 
economics. 


APPENDIX  405 

VI.  Marriage  and  Divorce 

The  family  in  the  past 

Causes  of  divorce 

Remedies 
VII.  Immigration 

History  of  immigration 

The  present  problem 

General  results,  including  political,  economic  and  social  results 

PART  II 

ECONOMIC  PROBLEMS 

I.   Child  Labor 
Causes 
Extent 
Effects 

Public  Regulation 
II.  Women  in  Industry 
History 

Extent  and  conditions  at  present 
Legislation 

Health  and  safety 

Hours 

Minimum  wage 

III.  SoaAL  Insurance  and  Compensation 

Industrial  accidents  and  occupational  diseases 
Employer's  liability 
Social  insurance  in  Europe 
Workmen's  compensation 

IV.  Unemployment 

The  problem 
European  experience 
Unemployment  in  America 
V.  Industrial  Peace 
Strikes 

Conciliation  and  voluntary  arbitration 
Compulsory  arbitration 
VI.  Trusts 

Evolution 

Nature 

State  control 

Sherman  Anti-trust  Law 

Recent  anti-trust  legislation 


4o6  THE  NEW  CIVICS 

VII.  Railways 

Growth  of  the  American  railways 
Railway  rates 
State  control 

First  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
Present  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
VHI.   Conservation 

Agricultural  lands  in  the  United  States 
Policy  regarding  water  and  timbers 
Coal  and  other  minerals 
Human  life 

PART  III 

POLITICAL  PROBLEMS 

I.  Initiative,  Referendum,  and  Recau:. 
History  of  direct  legislation 
Direct  legislation  at  present 

Advantages  and  disadvantages  of  direct  legislation 
The  recall 

II.  The  Voter  and  the  Political  Party 
Suffrage 

Ballot  and  elections 
Political  party  in  American  government 

III.  City  Government 

Coi^mission  government 
City  as  a  business  organization 

Work,  costs,  debts  of  finance,  city  manager,  etc. 
City  planning 
Proper  functions 

American  and  foreign  cities  compared,  etc. 

IV.  Public  Utilities 

The  problem 
Public  control 
Public  ownership 
V.  Finance 

The  problem 
Present  taxes 

Necessary  and  proposed  reforms 
VT.  The  Presidency 
History 

President  and  Congress 
President  and  the  Nation 


APPENDIX  407 

VII.  National  Defense 
The  problem 

The  past  and  limited  preparation 
Military  and  naval  preparedness 
True  preparedness 
VIII.  Democracy  and  Future  Problems 
The  nature  of  democracy 
The  limitations  of  democracy 
Democracy  and  foreign  affairs 

Democracy  and  domestic  problems  (political  and  economic) 
Democracy  and  social  progress 


INDEX 


Accidents,  industrial,  297 
Action,  freedom  of,  138-139 
Administration  of  law  and  civil  liberty, 

190-191 
Administrative      decentralization      in 
American  states,  190,  203,  207  n.  2 
Administrative  departments,  181-182, 

214-215,  255-260 
Admission  of  states,  356 
Agricultural  areas,  39-41 
Agricultural  colleges,  state,  347  (il.) 
Agricultural  land  policy,  357-361 
Agriculture,  department  of,  259,  346- 

349 
Albany  Congress,  224  n. 
Ambassadors,  370 
Amendment : 

of  national  constitution,  228,  231-232 

of  state  constitution,  220-221 
Amendments,   national  constitutional, 

229-232 
American  Association,  224 
American  government : 

characteristics  of,  70 

general,  64-70 

See  also  Contents,  Part  II 
Andrews  and  Commons,  quoted  from, 

292 
Anglo-Saxons  in  America,  46 
Annapolis  Academy,  375,  (il.)  374 
Annapolis  conference,  226 
Anti-Federalists,  228 
Anti-trust  laws : 

national,  31 1-3 13 

state,  310-311 
Apartment    house,   metropolitan,   (il.) 
79 


Appointments: 

in  cities,  178,  182 

general,  120-125 

number,  97  n.  2 

by  the  President  and  Senate,  244, 
250,  254-255 

in  states,  212-214 
Appointments  and  political  parties,  118 
Arbitration : 

industrial,  303-304 

international,  368 
Areas: 

agricultural,  39-40 

commercial,  38 

geographical,  37 

industrial,  38-39 

population,  43-44 
Army,  372-373 

Articles  of  Confederation,  225-226. 
Assessment  of  property,  168 
Assessors,  tax,  168,  206 
Association,  forms  of,  58-59 
Attorneys-general,  259 
Auditor,  county,  206 
Australasia,  arbitration  in,  304  n.  2 
Austrians  in  America,  48 

B 

Ballot,  election,  107-108 

Bank,  national,  339-340 

Bank  notes,  national,  340 

Battleship,  (il.)  374 

Bills,  congressional,  246-249,  (il.)  247 

legislative,  209-210 
Bills  of  Rights,  13-14 

constitutional,  134-138 

national,  134-138,  229-230 

state,  134-138,  210,  221 


409 


4IO 


INDEX 


Bimetallism,  337-339- 
Blue  sky  laws,  141  n. 
Boards,  comity,  205 
Boards  of  Education : 

county  and  local,  272  n. 

state,  270  n.  2 
Bogardus,  Emory  S.,  85 
Bonds,  government,  167 
Borrowing  money,  167,  171 
Boss,  the  political,  119 
Boston,  illustrations  of,  23,  188,  198 
Boycotts,  303 
Bribery,  punishment  of,  in  elections, 

111-112 
Bryce,  James  (Lord),  quoted,  119 
Budget,  municipal,  184 
Building  laws,  city,  186 
Business  and  government.     See  Con- 
tents,   71-77,    159-162,    Chapters 
XV-XVII 
Business,  legislation  for,  211 


Cabinet,     presidential,    255-256,    (il.) 

256 
Cabinet,  president's,  and  the  imwritten 

constitution,   234 
California,    workmen's    compensation 

law  of,  300  n. 
Campaign,  political,  105-106 
Canadian  industrial  disputes,  304  n.  2 
Canadians  in  the  United  States,  47,  48 
Canals : 
general,  318 
ship,  321 
Capitol : 

Minnesota  state,  (il.)  68 
national,  (il.)  96 
Carlton,  F.  T.,  quoted,  304  n. 
Caucus,  old  congressional  nominating, 

98 
Censorship  in  Russia,  (il.)  135 
Chain  gang,  150 
Chamber  of  commerce  of  the  United 

States,  (il.)  75 
Character,  as  basis  of  citizenship,  30- 

31 
Charities  and  corrections,  state  boards 

of,  214-215 
Charities,  public,  277-283 
Cb?irter,  mimicipal,  175-176 


Charters,  California  county,  205  n. 
Chicago,  illustrations  of,  102,  189 
Child  labor : 

effects  of,  293-294 

extent  of,  293 

regvdation  of,  294-295 
Child,  rights  of,  9-1 1,  80 
Chinese  immigration,  52  n. 
Circuit    Court    of    Appeals,   national, 

263 
Citizen : 

business  and  the,  28^29 

duties  of,  15-19 

education  of,  21-33 

position  of,  3-8 

rights,  of,  8-15,  133-143.  230 

voter  and,  3,  97 
Citizenship : 

definition  of,  3,  4 

duties  of,  15-19,  76-77 

education  for,  21-36 

foundations  of,  30-33 

general,  3-19 

rights  of,  8-15,  133-143 
City  government.    See  Contents,  Chap- 
ter X,   also  under  different  activ- 
ities 
City  planning,  186-188 
Civic  center,  187-188 

Cleveland,  (il.)  187 
Civic  duty,  32-33 

See  also  Citizenship 
Civic      organization.      See    Contents, 
Chapter  IV,  Political  organization, 
Economic  organization 
Civic  relationships,  4-9,  15 
Civil  liberty,  definition  of,  133 
Civil  Service  Commission: 

municipal,  123,  182 

methods  of,  123  n. 

national,  122,  123 
Civilizations,  combination  of,  52  n.  2 
Civil  suits,  145 
Clayton  Act,  313 
Clerk,  coimty,  206 
Cleveland,  civic  center  of,  187 
Climate  and  population,  43-44 
Closed  shop,  292  n.  2 
Coal  land  laws,  364 
Coast  defense,  376  (il.) 
Coinage,  history  of,  338-339 
Collective  bargaining,  292 


INDEX 


4" 


Collectors,  tax,  206 
Colleges,  state  agricultural,  270-271 
Colonial  unions,  224-225 
Colonies,  224-225 
Columbia,  District  of,  355  n. 
Combinations,  industrial : 
control  of,  310-314 
forms  of,  307-308 
merits  of,  308-309 
Commerce.      See    Contents,    Chapter 

XVI  , 
Commerce,  Secretary  of,  259 
Commercial  areas,  38 
Commercial  treaties,  329-330 
Commission  government  of  cities,  178- 

179,  182 
Commission  on  uniform  laws,  219 
Commissioners,  county,  205 
Commissions,      state      administrative, 

214-215 
Committees,  congressional,  245-247 

legislative,  209,  245-246 
Committees,  political  party : 
executive,  116 
national,  104,  106,  116 
work  of,  116,  117 
Committee  on  rules,  244-245 
Committees   of   the   Whole,    Congres- 
sional, 245  n. 
Common-carriers,  323,  327 
Communication,  means  of,  318-323 
Community  property,  140 
Compensation  for  accidents,  299-300 
Competition  (economic),  general,  75 
Compromises  in  constitutional  conven 

tion,  227-228 
Compulsory  arbitration,  303-304 
Conciliation,  industrial,  303-304 
Confederation,  the,  225-226 
Conference  committees,  248 
Congress,  Confederation,  225—226 
Congress,  the  United  States : 
characteristics  of,  243-245 
discussion  of  (1787),  227-228 
general  powers  of,  233-234 
organization  of,  241-243,  245—246 
procedure  in,  246—248 
powers  of.     See  National   Govern- 
ment 
Congress  and  the  xmwritten  constitu- 
tion, 233-234 
Congresses,  early,  224-225 


Congressmen : 
election  of,  241-242 
privileges     and     compensation    of, 

242-243 
qualifications  of,  241  n.  2 
Connecticut  compromise,  227 
Conservation : 
general,  361-365 
of  life,  283 
Constitution  of  the  United  States: 
amendments  of,  229-232 
formation  of  (1787),  226-228 
general  character  of,  66-67 
interpretation  of,  by  courts,  260-262 
relation  of,  to  states,  237 
unwritten,  232-235 
Constitutions,  state,  220 
Consuls,  American,  331—332 
Consumption  (economic),  general,  71 
Contract,  freedom  of,  139-140 
Contract  labor  law,  51 
Contract,  right  of,  73,  139-140,  297 
Convention  of  1787,  226-228 
Conventions,  constitutional : 
state,  220 

national  (1787),  226-228 
Conventions,  nominating : 
earliest,  99 

presidential,  100,  101-104  (2  ils.) 
Cooperation  (economic),  74 
Cooperation,  political  (popular),  97-98 
Coordination,  57 
Copyrights,  granting  of,  306  n.  2 
Coroner,  the  county,  206  n. 
Corporation  taxes : 
national,  167 
state,  169-170 
Corporations : 

combinations  of,  307-309 
control  of,  309-314 
definition  of,  306 
diverse  state  laws  regarding,  219 
industrial,  306-314 
large-scale  industry  and,  74 
Corrupt  practices  acts,  112 
Corruption,  dangers  of  municipal,  176- 

177,  179,  191,  193,  198-199 
Council,  city,  176-177 
Counties : 
nature  of,  204 
officials  of,  205-206 
work  of,  207-208 


412 


INDEX 


County  courts,  215 

Covinty  farms,  281 

Courts,  dty,  216 

Courts  of  domestic  relations,  86 

Coiurts,   national,    and    the  imwritten 

constitution,  235-236 
Courts,  state,  215-216,  218 
Courts,  system  of  American,  143-144 
Crime: 

constitutional  safeguards  of  persons 
accused  of,  137-138 

courts  of  justice,  144-147 

definition  of,  1 2 

immigration  and,  50 

protection  of  state  against,  142 

punishment  of,  12,  148-154 
Criminal  cases,  jury  trials  for,  144 
Custom-House,  Galveston,  (il.)  164 
Customs,  59 
Customs,  duties  on,  163-164 


Dam,  Roosevelt,  (il.)  359 
Debate,  congressional,  243,  245 
Debts,  public: 

mimicipal,  171,  177 

national,  167 

state  and  local,  171 
Defectives,  care  of,  280 
Defense,  national,  371-380 
Delegates,  primary.    See  Primary 
Democracy : 

education  for,  21-36 

general,  97-132 

nationality  and,  63 

public    schools     and,    25-27,    269- 
270 
Democratic  national  convention,  191 6, 

(il.)  103 
Departments,  administrative : 

city,  181-182 

national,  255-260 

state,  214-215 
Departments,  separation  of  American, 

68-69 
Dependent  children,  care  of,  279-280 
Desert  land  act,  358-359 
Differentiation,  56 
Diplomatic  relations,  367-370 
Direct  legislation,  125-129 
Direct  taxation,  national,  166  n.  2 


Dispensaries,  public,  282  (U.) 
Distribution    of    wealth     (economic), 

general,  71-76 
District  attorney,  the,  206 
District  of  Columbia,  355  n. 
District  covirts,  national,  263 
Districts,  representation  from,  67-68 
Division  of  labor,  73 
Divorce : 

diverse  state  laws  for,  84-86,  219 

increase  of,  82-85 

map  of  (1900),  84 

remedies  for,  85-86 
Duties,  civic,  15-19  " 
Duties,  customs,  163-164 


Eastman,  Crystal,  quoted,  299 
Economic    order    of    to-day,    general 

characteristics  of,  72-75 
Economic  organization,  6-7,  70-77 

See  also  Trusts,  Railways,  Commerce, 
etc. 
Education : 

common  school,  272-273 

finances  of,  273-274 

free  public,  24-25,  269-275 

higher,  270-274 

kind   needed  for  citizenship,  22-24, 
26-30 

of  the  citizen,  21-33 

state  systems  bf,  270 

vocational  vs.  cultural,  22-23 
Efficiency,  31-32,  57 

preparedness  and,  379-380 
Elastic  clause,  233,  261 
Elections : 

city,  182-183 

congressional,  241 

general,  105-113 

nominations  for,  98-105 

presidential,  250-251 

primary,  99-101 

recall,  129-131 

senatorial,  241 

state,  209,  212,  216 

See  Contents,  Chapter  VI 
Electoral  College,  251 
Electric  plants,  municipal,  195 
Ellwood,  C.  A.,  quoted,  61 
Eminent  domain,  i6i 


INDEX 


413 


Employer's  liability,  298-299 
English  in  America,  46,  47 
Enterprise,  private,  72 
Epidemics,  prevention  of,  284 
Equity,  145  n. 

Exchange  (economic),  general,  71 
Executive  session,  245 
Expenditures,  family,  88-90 
Expenditures,  governmental : 

charts  of,  157,  158 

general,  157-159 
Experiment  stations,  agricultural,  347, 

(il.)348 
Exports,  prohibition  of  taxation  of,  228 


Factory  legislation  for  women,  296 
Family : 

importance  of,  79 

income  of,  87-89 

permanence  of,  82-86 

size  of,  87 

standard  of  living  of,  89-90 
Farm  crops,  annual  value  of,  (map)  40 
Favorite  sons,  state,  104 
Federal  reserve  board,  330,  340-342, 

(map)  341 
Federal  system  of  government,  69-70, 

236-238 
Federal  trade  commission,  313-314,  (il.) 

328 
Federalists,  228 

Fellow-servant  doctrine,  299  n.  2 
Fifteenth  Amendment,  108  n.  2, 109,  231 
Finance : 

local,  in  general,  1 69-1 71 

municipal,  183-184 

national,  163-168 

political  party,  117 

school,  273-274 

state,  1 69-1 7 1 

See  Contents,  Chapter  IX 
Financial  center  of  the  world,  new,  (il.) 

73 
Fire,  protection  against,  186 
First  Continental  Congress,  224 
Food,  family  expenditures  for,  89-90 
Food  supply,  improvement  c  i,  348-349 
Foreign  commerce,  328-331 
Forest  reserves,  361-362 
Fourteenth  Amendment,  230 


Franchises : 
granting  of,  177,  193,  198 
mimicipal,  171,  193,  198 
revenue  from,  170,  171 

Free  public  schools,  269-270 

Freedom,  personal,  72 
See  Contents,  Chapter  VIII 

Functions,  municipal,  180-181 


Gas  service  in  cities,  195 
General  Board,  naval,  258 
General  property  tax,  168-169 
General  Staflf,  258 
Gentlemen's  agreements,  307 
Geography  of  the  United  States,  37-44 
George  Junior  Repubhc,  (il.)  25 
Germans  in  America,  47 
Gerrymander,  the,  iii 
Gettysburg  reimion,  (il.)  377 
Giant  corporations,  308 
Giddings,  F.,  quoted,  56  n.  2,  58 
Government : 

activities  of.     See  Contents,  Part  III 

characteristics  of,  70 

departments  of,  68-69 

kinds  of,  65-66 

national,  232-238 

nature  of  American,  66-70 

scope  of  work  of,  64-65,  App.  C. 

state  and  local,  general,  203,  208 

See  also  Contents,  Part  II 
Governmental  powers,  classes  of,  236 
Governor,  state,  21 1-2 14 
Grammar  schools,  272-273 
"  Grandfather  clauses,"  109 


H 

Habeas  corpus,  writ  of,  146 
Harbor  improvements,  38,  330 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  quoted,  258-259 
Hart,  A.  B.,  quoted,  364 
Health: 

general,  lo-ii 

protection  of,  141 

public,  283-286 
High   school   institutions,    26-28,   61, 

272-273,  (il.)  272 
Highways,  public,  319-320  (il.) 
Holding  companies,  308,  31  x 


414 


INDEX 


Holland,  J.  G.,  quoted,  124-125 
Home : 

general,  10 

future  and  women,  91-93 

importance  of,  79-82 

past  and  future,  91-93 

and  school,  21-22 
Home  rule  charters,  175-176 
Homestead  exemption,  141 
Homestead  laws,  358 
Honor  system,  the,  in  schools,  27-28 
Hospitals,  public,  282 
Horn's  of  labor  for  women,  297 
House  of  Governors,  the,  219 
House  of  Representatives,    241,    244- 

246,  (il.)  245,  251 
House  of  Representatives,  state,  209 
Housing  problem,  the  municipal,  184- 

186 
Hughes,  Charles  E.,  141 


Ideals  and  standards,  29 
Illiteracy  among  immigrants,  50 
Immigrants : 

chart  of,  by  races,  48 

examination  of  eyes  of,  (il.)  51 

location  of,  45 

original  races  of,  45-46 

waiting  room  for,  Ellis  Island,  (il.)  2 
Immigration : 

chart  of  (1864-19 14),  47 

economic  effects  of,  49-50 

homogeneity  and,  52-53 

restriction  of,  50-52 

social  results  cf,  50 
Impeachment,  243 
Implied  powers,  232-236 
Improvements,  public,  159 
Inaugvu-ation,  251  (il.) 

(1905),  248 
Incinerator,  use  of,  285 
Income  of  American  families,  87-89 
Income  tax,  national,  88,  165-166 
Incorporation : 

industrial,  306 

municipal,  175  n.  2 
Independent  voter,  the,  119,  120 
Indeterminate  sentence,  the,  150  • 
Indian  affairs,  350-351 
Indoor  relief  for  poverty,  281 


Industrial  areas,  38-39 
Industrial  centers,  (map)  39 
Industrial  plant,  huge,  (il.)  306 
Industrial  warfare,  302-304 
Industrial  victims,  number  of,  379 
Inheritance  taxes : 

national,  166 

state,  170 
Initiative : 

advantages  of,  128 

definition  of,  125 

general,  125-126 

map  of,  127 
Insane,  care  of,  280-281 
Institutions,  59-61 
Insular  cases,  354 
Insurance  companies: 

regulation  for,  1 40-1 41 

taxation  of,  169 
Integration,  56  n.  2 
Interior  department,  258-259 
Internal  revenue,  164-165 
International  arbitration,  368 
International  law,  367 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  325- 

328,(11)326 
Invisible  government,  loi,  119 
Irish  in  America,  47 
Iron,  41 

Irrigation  law,  national,  359-360 
Italians  in  America,  48 


Jail,  local,  150 

Jamaica    Bay,   proposed    harbor    im 

provement  for,  (map)  38 
Japanese  immigration,  52  n. 
Jitney  bus,  the,  196 
Judges,  215,  216,  262 

recall  of,  130- 131 
Judicial  decisions,  130-131 
Judiciary : 

national,  260-263 

need  of  an  upright,  147-148 

state,  215-216 
Jury: 

system,  the,  144-146 

use  of,  137-138,  144 
Justice : 

administration  of,  143-148 

delays  in,  146 


INDEX 


415 


Justices  of  the  peace,  216 
Juvenile  courts,  152-154 

K 
Knowledge,  as  basis  of  citizenship,  31 


Labor : 

capital  and,  302-304 

child,  293-295 

compensation  for  accidents  to,  298- 
300 

efifect  of  immigration  on,  49 

unemployment  problem  of,  300-302 

wages  of,  291-293,  342-344,  (chart) 
343 

woman,  295-298 
Labor  contracts,  public  supervision  of, 

139-140,  142,  291-292,  297 
Labor,  Department  of,  260 
Land  grants,  357-358 
Lands,  public,  357-362 
Large-scale  industry,  307-309 
Large-scale  production,  74 
Law-making,  process  of : 

national,  246-249 

state,  209-210 
Law,  reform  of,  148-149 
Legislation,  over-,  211 
Legislation,  state  uniformity  and  diver- 
sity in,  218-219 
Legislative  centralization  of  American 

states,  190,  203,  208 
Legislative  department,  69 

See  also  Congress,  Legislature,  and 
the  State 
Legislature : 

defects  of  the  state,  2 10-2 11 

direct  legislation  and,  1 29 

state,  208-211 
Libel,  136  n.  2 

Libraries,  public,  275-277,  (il.)  275 
Library,    traveling,    (map)    276,    (il.) 

277 
Licenses,  local  revenue,  170 

marriage,  86 
Like-mindedness,  58,  63 
Liquor,  control  of,  286-288 
Liquors,  taxes  on,  165 
Literacy  test  for  immigrants,  51-52 


Living  wage : 

definition  of,  89 

right  to,  139 
Local  government : 

municipal.   See  Contents,  Chapter  X 

rural,  203-208 
Local  option,  208,  287 
Local  self-government,  175,  205 
Lodging  houses,  public,  281 
Long  and  short  haul  clauses,  325,  327 
Los  Angeles,  194  n.  2,  (il.)  196 

M 

Machine,  political,  i'i6,  117 
Manager,  the  city,  179-180 
Marriage  laws,  80-82 
Marshals,  national,  263 
Mayor,  city,  177-178 
Mayo-Smith,  R.,  quoted,  49  n. 
Meats,  inspection  of,  285-286 
Mechanics'  liens,  140  n. 
Message,  presidential,  254 
Mileage,  congressional,  242 
Military  preparedness,  377-378 
Militia,  149  n.,  214,  373 
Milk,  piu-e,  285 
Mineral  resources,  41,  364 
Minimum  wage,  91,  297-298 
Mining  laws,  364 
Minnesota  state  capitol,  (il.)  63 
Mississippi  basin,  37,  40 
Money  standards,  336-339 
Monogamy.    See  Marriage 
Monometallism,  337-339 
Monopolies,  economic,  75,  309,  310 

mimicipal,  192 
Monroe  Doctrine,  368-369 
Mothers'  pensions,  280  n. 
Municipal  reform,  191 
Munro,  W.  B.,  quoted,  125 

N 
Nation : 

definition  of,  45-46 

state  and,  63-64,  236-237 
National  divorce  law,  desire  for,  86 
National  government,  233-238 

See   also    Congress,    President,    and 
Courts,  national 

banking,  controlled  by,  339-342 

business  activities  of,  336-352 


4i6 


INDEX 


National-government  —  (continued) 
commerce,   controlled  by,    321-324, 

325-333 
Constitution  of,  224-240 
finances  of,  157-167 
foreign  relations  of,  367-381 
industry,  controlled  by,  31 1-3 14 
organization  of,  241-265 
popular  participation  in,  97-132 
rights  imder,  133-138 
territorial  powers  of,  353-366 

National  nominating  conventions.    See 
Conventions,  nominating 

National  sphere  of  government,    236- 
237 

Nationality,  63 

Naturalization,  4  and  note 

Naval  defense,  373-376 

Naval  stations  and  docks,  374  n. 

Navigation  acts,  330 

Navy,  Secretary  of,  258 

Needs : 

individual,  5,  8-9 
public,  5-8 

Negroes,  45  n.  2,  46 

Neighborhood  Association,  Gramercy, 
(il.)  274 

Neutrals  and  peace,  368,  371,  378 

Newark,  Normal  school  in,  271 

New  England  Confederation,  224  n. 

New  Haven,  (il.)  204 

New  Jersey  plan,  227  n. 

New  York  City,  illustrations  of,  2,  73, 
184,  185,  274 

Nominations : 
direct,  99-101 
general,  98-105 
presidential,  101-104  (ils.),  250-251 

Normal  schools,  state,  271  (il.) 

North  Carolina,  210  n.,  228 


Obedience,  duty  of,  16 
Occupations  of  Americans,  44 
Officials,    public.    See  Appointments, 
Elections,  Removals,  Tenure 
state  administrative,  213  n. 
Opinion,  public,  113 
Ordinances,  making  of,  177 
Oregon,  direct  legislation  in,  127,  210 


Organization : 

economic,  70-76 

political,  5-7,  63-70 

political  party,   100,    101-105,   "6^ 
117,  118-119 

social,  56-63 
Organized  territories,  355-356 
Outdoor  relief,  281 


Pan  American  doctrine,  369-^370 
Paper  money,  339-341 
Parcels  post,  346 
Pardon,  governor's  power  of,  214 
Parks,  city,  188-189 

Boston  municipal,  (il.)  188 

state  or  national,  362 
Party,  the  political : 

in  American  government,  68 

and  elections,  67-68,  106,  112 

and  gerrymandering,  iii 

importance  of,  115 

and  nominations,  100-105 

organization  of,  100,  101-105,  116- 
117,  118-119 

patronage  and,  118,  121-122 

primary  and,  99,  loi 

work  of,  1 1 5-1 20 
Party    finance,    corporation    contribu- 
tions to,  112 
Patents,  granting  of,  306  n.  2 
Patriotism,  33 
Patronage,  118 

Pauperism,  immigration  and,  50 
Peace,  367-368,  371,  378-380 
Penitentiary,  county,  150 
Pennsylvania  state  capitol,  executive 

office  in,  (ils.)  212-213 
Pensions,  376-377 
Petition,  freedom  of,  135-136 
Philadelphia,  illustration  of,  337 
Philippines,  government  of,  354-355 
Platform,  political  party,  104 
Playgrounds,  mmiicipal,   189-190 

Chicago,  (il.)  189 
Police  officers,  city,  148-149 
Police  power,  143  n. 
Political  liberty,  definition  of,  133 
Political  organization,  5-7 

See  also  Government 
Poll  taxes,  171 


INDEX 


417 


Polygamy,  80 

Pools,  308,  323,  325 

Population  of  the  United  States : 

distribution  of,  43-45 

number  of,  42-43 

racial  elements  of,  42-49 

urban,  44,  45  n.,  174 
Porto  Rico,  government  of,  355 
Post  oflBice,  344-346,  (il.)  345 
Postal  savings  banks,  346 
Postmasters,  selection  of,  344  n. 
Poverty : 

causes  of,  277-278 

relief  of,  278-282 
Power,  water,  362 
Preemption  Act,  357 
Preferential      presidential      primaries, 

icon. 
Preparedness : 

military,  377-378 

naval,  373-375 

need  of,  371-372 

real,  378-380 
President,  the: 

congress  and,  249,  252-253 

election  of,  100,  101-104,  250-251 

foreign  powers  of,  368-371 

inauguration  of,  251,  (il.)  250 

military  powers  of,    252-253,   371- 
376 

Monroe  Doctrine  and,  368-370 

position  of,  249-250 

powers  of,  252-255 

qualifications  of,  251 

relation  of,  to  cabinet,  255-257 

Senate  and,  244,  244-245,  250,  370 

term  of,  251-252 

unwritten  constitution  and,  234-235 
Press,  free,  135-136 
Prices    and    wages,    88-90,    342-344, 

(chart)  343 
Primary : 

direct,  99-101 

old  election,  99 
Prison  reform,  1 50-1 51 
Prisons,  use  of,  1 49-1 51 
Private    law     under    states,     12-13, 

217-218 
Probation,  juvenile,  153 
Production  of  wealth  (economic),  71, 

76 
Progressive  taxation,  170 


Prohibition : 
of  dangerous  industries,  305 
vs.  development  as  methods  of  social 

control,  62  n. 
of    liquor    traffic,     287-288,    (map) 

287 
local  option,  288 
Property,  private  : 
general,  72 
protection  of,  160 
as  a  social  institution,  159 
taking  of,  for  pubhc  use,  161 
taxation  of,  160-162 
See  also  Taxation 
Property   rights   of   married    women, 

140 
Proportional  representation,  in 
Protective  tariffs,  332 
Public  domain,  357-362 
Public  lands,  357-362 
Public  opinion,  63,  148 
Public  ownership,   municipal   vs.   pri- 
vate ownership,  192-193,  194,  195, 
197-199 
Public  service  commissions,  state,  197, 

324 
Public   utilities,    revenues   from,    160, 

170-171 
Public  utiUty,  municipal,  191-199 
Pure  food  laws,  286 


Quarantine  regulations,  284 


Railways : 

consolidation  of,  321-322 

development  of,  321—322 

grants  to,  321,  358 

national  control  of,  325-328 

public  nature  of,  322-323 

state  control  of,  324 
Rates,  railway,  control  of,  324,  325, 326, 

327 
Real  preparedness,  378-380 
Rebates,  railway,  325,  327 
Recall,  1 29-131 

Reciprocity  treaties,  329,  333  n. 
Reclamation  work,  359-360 
Recorder,  the  county,  2ot  n. 


4i8 


INDEX 


Referendum : 

advantages  of,  128 

defects  of,  129 

map  of,  127 

old  and  new,  126-127 
Reform  schools,  151-152 
Reformatory,  Iowa,  (il.)  152 
Registration  of  voters,  106 
Religious  liberty,  136  n.  4,  137 
Removals  from  office : 

in  cities,  178,  182 

general,  1 21-124 

by  president,  254  and  n.  2 

recal-  ari,  129- 131 

by  stitLft  governor,  213 
Representation,  legislative,  67-68,  1 10- 

III 
Representative  government,  67-68 
Republican  national  convention  (1916), 

(il.)  102 
Revenue : 

bills,  167  n.  I,  227  n.  2 

municipal,  183-184 

See  Taxes 
Rhode  Island,  228  n.  2 
"Rider,"  the,  210  n. 
Rights: 

classes  of,  14,  133 

constitutional,  134-138 

general,  8-15 

individual,  under  state,  217 

modem  social,  9-13,  138-143 

social  progress  and,  14-15 
Ring,  political,  118,  119 
River  Improvements,  330 
Rule  of  Reason  decisions,  312 
Rural  free  delivery,  346 
Russians  in  America,  48 


St,  Louis,  High  School  in,  (il.)  272 
Salaries  of  public  officials,   209,   242, 

252  n.,  261  n.,  361 
San  Francisco,  city  hall  of,  (il.)  177 
Saving,    social   need    of    encouraging, 

159-160 
Savings  banks,  regulations  for,  140 
Scandinavians  in  America,  47 
School  clinics,  282-283 
School  lands,  357-358 
School  law,  state,  270 


School  superintendents,  state,  270  n.  3 
Schools : 

and  citizenship,  25-28 

free,  24 

general,  269-275 
Scotch-Irish  in  America,  46 
Seattle,  (il.)  196 

Second  Continental  Congress,  225 
Secretaries,  national,  and  congress,  256- 

257 
Selectmen,  town,  206 
Self-education,  23-24 
Self-government : 

in  schools,  26-27 

See  also  Democracy 
Senate,  national,  241,  243,  244,  251 

state,  209 
Senatorial  committees,  243 
Senatorial  courtesy,  244 
Senators : 

dignity  of,  243 

election  of,  241 

privileges  and  compensation  of,  242- 
243 

qualifications  of,  241  n. 
Sessions,  congressional,  242 
Seventeenth  Amendment,  231,  241 
Sewage,  disposal  of,  285 
Sheriffs,  county,  149  n. 
Sherman  An ti- trust  Law,  31 1-3 13 
Shipping,  American,  330-331 
Short  ballot,  107-108 
Sick  poor,  '-are  of,  282 
Silver  coinage  laws,  339 
Sing  Sing   prison,  auditorium  of,  (il. 

181 
Sixteenth  Amendment,  165,  231  (il.) 
Slimi,  the  problem  of,  185 
Smuggling,  164 

Social  center,  school  as,  274-275 
Social  conscience,  63 
Social  constitution,  the  new,  142-143 
Social  control,  62 
Social  criminals,  18-19 
Social  development,  57-58 
Social  mind,  63 
Social  organization,  7,  56-63 

definition  of,  58 

See  also  Family,  etc. 
Social  rights,  modem,  138-143 
Social  will,  63 
Sovereignty,  64,  67,  238 


INDEX 


419 


Speaker,  244  n. 

Special  assessments,  161 

Special  legislation,  prohibition  of,  210 

Speech,  free,  135-136 

Sphere  of  state  action,  216-218,  236- 
237 

Spoils  system,  the,  121,  122,  124 

Stamp  Act  Congress,  224 

Stamp  taxes,  166-167 

Standards  and  ideals,  29 

Standards  of  living,  89-90,  342-344 

State  constitution : 
adoption  of,  220 
amendment  of,  220-221 
character  of ,  219-220 
contents  of,  221 

State  courts,  215-216 

State  public  service  conmaissions,  197, 
324 

States: 
administration  of  justice  in,  143-154 
admission  of,  356 
character  of  real,  62,  64 
city  government  of,  174-202 
commercial  activities  of,  318-324 
constitutions  of,  219-221 
finances  of,  157-163,  168-171 
general  welfare  work  of,  269-270 
labor   and   industrial   problems   of, 

291-31 I 
local  rural  government  of,  203-208 
popular  participation  in  government 

of,  97-132 
relation  of,  to  nation.    See  Federal 

system 
rights  of  people  under,  133- 143 
sphere  of  activity  of,  216-218,  236- 

237 

state  government  of,  208-216 

suffrage  in,  1 08-1 10 

work  of,  64 
State,  secretary  of,  257-258 
State  railway  commissions,  324 
Street  car,  mimicipal,  Seattle,  (il.)  196 
Street  railways,  195-197 
Streets,  city,  192,  319-320 
Strikes,  industrial,  302-303 
Subway,  Boston,  (il.)  198 
Succession,  presidential,  252 
Suffrage,  108-110 

Superintendent  of  schools,  the  county, 
206  n. 


Supervisors,  county,  205 
Supreme  court : 

national,  260-263,  (il.)  261 

state,  215 
Sweat  shop,  296  n. 


Tariffs,  332-333 
Tax  system : 

bvirden  of  national,  167 

character  of,  162-163 

explanation  of,  162  n. 

state  and  local,  171 
Taxation,  1 62-1 71 

See  also  Contents,  Chapter  IX 
Taxes,  national,  163-167 

state  and  local,  1 68-1 71 
Technicalities,  legal,  and  justice,  146- 

147 
Telephone  service,  197 
Tenement  district,  congestion  in,  (il.) 

184 
Tenements : 

building  laws  for,  184-186,  (il.)  185 

health  regulations  for,  284 
Tenmre  of  office,  112 
Term,  presidential,  251-252 
Terms  of   office,   112,   209,   212,  241, 

251-252,  261 
Territories : 

acquisition  of,  353,  370 

government  of,  353-356 

See  Contents,  Chapter  XVIII 
Third  term  tradition,  234 
Thirteenth  Amendment,  230 
Thought,  freedom  of,  136-137 
Three- fifths  compromise,  227 
Tobacco,  taxes  on,  165 
Torpedo  firing,  (il.)  375 
Township,  New  England,  206 

New  York,  207 
Township  surveys,  375  n.  3 
Trade  agreements,  303  n.  4,  304  n.  2 
Transportation   problem,   the   munid* 

pal,  195-197 
Treasurer,  the  county,  206 
Treasury,  Secretary  of  the,  258 
Treaties : 

commercial,  329-330 

making  of,  370 

Senate,  and,  244 


420 


INDEX 


Trusts,  308 

See  Combinations,  industrial 
Twelfth  Amendment,  230,  234 


U 


Unconstitutional  legislation,  220 
Unearned  increment,  taxation  of,  160 
Unemployment,  300-302 
Unions,  early  American,  224-225 
Universities,  state,  271,  (ils.)  268 
Unwritten  constitution : 

character  of,  232-233 

details  of,  233-236 
Urban  population,  3S-39,  44,  i74 


Veto: 

gubernatorial,  210-214 

of  the  mayor,  178 

presidential,  249 
Vice-President,  104  n,  2,  243,  252 
Virginia  plan,  227 
Vocational  education,  22-23,  25 
Voters : 

character  of,  97 

and  citizens,  3,  97 

and  political  parties,  iig,  120 

qualifications  of,  108-110 

women  as,  109-110 

See  also  Elections 
Votes.    See  Elections 
Voting,  process  of,  io6~  iv-»7 


W 

Wage  contracts,  291-292 

Wages,     88-89,     291-292,     297-298. 

342-344»  (chart)  343 
War,  declaration  of,  371 

sacrifice  in,  379 

Secretary  of,  258 
Washington : 

illustrations  in,  96,  245,  250,  251,  322 

plan  of,  187 
Wastes,  disposal  of,  284-285 
Water  conservation,  362 
Water  power,  41,  362 
Water  power  plant,  (il.)  41 
Water  supply,  city,  194-195 
Waterways,  inland,  363-364 
Ways  and  Means  Committee,  167  n. 
Weather  Bureau,  349—350 
West   Point    Military  Academy,   373, 

(il.)  372 
White  House,  (il.)  249 
Wilson,  Woodrow,  quoted,  219,  App.  C 
Woman : 

and  divorce,  82-86 

factory  regulations  for,  295-296 

and  futvire  home,  91-93 

hours  and  wages  of,  296-298 

and  household  economy,  86-89 

and  marriage,  79-82 

suflfrage,  1 09-1 10  (map) 
Women  workers,  295-298 
Workingmen's  compensation,  91,  299- 

300 
World  peace,  367-368 


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